Welcome to Gravesend

		Greetings. You’ve arrived at the Mark Drought Web site, home to snide and biased commentary, as well as links to more-interesting sites. (In case you’re wondering, Gravesend is a fictional New Hampshire town in one of my favorite novels.) In continuous operation since 1998, this site is written from the point of view of a slightly left-of-center, agnostic civil libertarian with faintly Buddhist tendencies. I’m an editor/writer, op-ed columnist and adjunct English professor at the University of Connecticut, from which I graduated way back in the 20th Century.
The Drought Family Coat of Arms

Two more of my favorite characters (Toby and Tucker) are shown to the left. For a full gallery of family pet pictures, you can click here. My wife and I are childless (although we prefer the less politically correct term “child-free”), so we take far too many pictures of our pets, after forcing them to dress up in needlessly cute and colorful outfits. Click here to go to the end of this page and comment on anything you’ve read so far.

To access one of the funniest site on the Web, click here for the satirical publication The Onion. If you like political cartoons, you might enjoy the Jeff Danziger Web site, which has some good ones going back to 1998. And, if you’d like to laugh until you wet yourself, try clicking here for a mock culinary Web site that’s indescribably funny ... just scroll down under the heading “Steve, Don’t Eat It! Vol. 1.”

— Blog Here — 

To involve Gravesend readers (all three of you) in the content of this site,
I’m giving you the opportunity to comment on subjects of my choosing.
Reactions are collected and displayed on a separate page
(click here to view readers’ comments on various issues of the day).

This Month’s Topic

Click here, if, in the words of pundit Bill O’Reilly, you wish to opine.

As a regular columnist for several local newspapers — mainly The Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut) and Greenwich Time (Greenwich, CT), and sometimes the Fairfield Weekly and Norwalk Advocate — I’ve found that the worst thing about writing editorials is that, no matter how controversial my rants might be on Monday, they’re lining cats’ litter boxes (receiving the treatment many readers felt they deserved in the first place) by Wednesday. So, to make my musings more semipermanent, I’ve developed this site.

Following are some of the more-recent articles currently available (older material is archived farther down the page).

• Current Events:

  • Ending the Cuban Trade Embargo — For decades, we’ve been assured that, if we just kept the pressure on Cuba with our embargo, Castro would be overthrown. Like the Second Coming, it’s one of those promises that never comes to fruition. So, why do we keep on punishing the Cuban people for having a tyrant as their leader?

  • How Important Is Our Space Program? — Some might say that, with all the suffering in the world, not important at all. I disagree. I don’t want to go off on a rant here, but the advancement of human knowledge is the most important reason for existence ... but I could be wrong. 

  • Otherwise, the Terrorists Win — How smart were those terrorists that they struck the World Trade Center just a year into the administration of one of the worst presidents in our history. As the Bush era draws to a close, I think we have to concede that, at this point, the terrorists are winning.

  • Give War a Chance — Americans love being at war, and nothing shows it more than our distaste for ending pointless wars, especially when we’re losing. If we actually liked peace, Barack Obama would be way ahead in the polls, but, to the surprise of no one who’s read a history book, he isn’t.

  • McCain’s Taliban Wing — Which sort of extremist is more frightening ... right-wing fundamentalist Christian crackpots or angry, fire-breathing, black radical Christians?

  • Goodbye W — Soon we’ll be bidding a fond farewell to our 43rd president. Just think how much better shape the country would be in today, if we’d picked a better Bush back at the turn of the century.

  • Reinstating the Draft — In 2007, President Bush’s new War Czar suggested that we may need a military draft to staff the war in Iraq. But would a draft support the war effort, or, in the long run, would it help bring this conflict to an end?

• Freedom of Speech:

  • Freedom of Religion vs. Free Speech — Is God powerful enough to withstand “Christian bashing,” or does he need the right-wing media to protect him from bloggers?

  • Flag Desecration Should Be Considered Patriotic — I’m bothered by the repression that masquerades as patriotism in times of national danger, including during the war on terror.

  • Sacrilegious Expression Is a Protected Right — Appearing in two local newspapers, this piece was written to rebut an editorial by the managing editor of a Stamford newspaper advocating censorship and/or the destruction of “offensive” artwork.
    (If you support offensive art, take a look at this link — www.estermann.com — which was sent by a reader in Zurich, Switzerland, who enjoyed my article.)

• Church and State:

  • The Catholic Church Should Get Out of the Healthcare Business — Why is the Catholic Church allowed to run hospitals that refuse to follow the laws of the states in which they’re operating? Maybe they should stick to such enterprises as real estate, the Eucharist and bingo?

  • Muslims and Democracy: A Marriage Headed for Divorce — Are Muslim nations fertile ground for democratic rule? The Palestinians have elected Hamas, Lebanon has Hezbollah in its parliament and Iranians voted for a lunatic as president, so you tell me.

  • Faith: It’s Not Just for Republicans — In a country where only the devoutly religious can be elected to national office, being portrayed as a heathen is a ticket to the political ash heap. Liberals need to accept this fact and behave accordingly..

  • Welcome to the Middle Ages — From Tom Cruise to creationists and faith healers, many in our country seem uncomfortable with the prospect of living in the 21st century.

• Politics:

  • The Party of the Wealthy — You hear a lot of talk in 2009 about the GOP becoming a regional party, with a limited constituency. Based on performance, the only members it ought to have left are the 5% who will benefit from its fiscal philosophy and its unending desire to give tax breaks and additional benefits to the very rich.

  • Proud to Be From Connecticut — In 2008, the small state of Connecticut, a haven for sensible moderates, had several reasons to feel proud, and only one politician left in a major office to make them feel less so.

  • Election Post-Mortem, 2008 —  This was the year when the voters rejected the sleazy tactics and irrelevant issues that Republicans have used to win elections for decades. The electorate ought to be feeling good about itself.

  • Why Does Sarah Palin Scare the Hell out of Me? —  After several ill-fated interviews, it has become obvious that John McCain selected Ms. Palin as his running mate for political reasons. God help us all ... a female George W.

  • Take a Break From Politics in 2008 —  At this point in the election cycle, didn’t the John Edwards sleaze just make you want to shut off CNN, MSNBC and FNC for a couple months?

  • Courage Is an Overrated Virtue —  We Americans pretend we want our leaders to bravely tell us the truth, but what we really want them to do is tell us what we want to hear.

  • Case Closed: Focusing on the Important Hogwash —  In an election year, we should concentrate on the truly trivial — the things the media and the spin doctors focus on to help us choose our president, rather than the nonsense we argue about during the other three years.

• Popular Culture:

  • What Should Be Done About Victimless Criminals? — Can there be a crime, if there’s no victim? I don’t think so ... that’s what clergymen invented the word “sin” to describe. If you’ve only hurt yourself, then you don’t owe anyone an apology, which should be the lesson of the Michael Phelps bong incident.

  • Is Mother Teresa a Saint? — The recent publication of Mother Teresa’s correspondence showed that she long ago lost her faith in God and Catholicism. In my humble estimation, that just makes her even more admirable than people already thought she was.

  • Boomers on Social Security — Now that the first baby boomers have begun filing for social security, are you starting to feel old? Sometimes, events conspire to make your approaching decrepitude palpable.

  • Atheism: Unanswerable Questions — Is the existence of God so obvious that it’s not even debatable? For people of faith, that’s a foregone conclusion.

  • Life on the Gold Coast — How can we manage to fund the lavish lifestyle that those of us lucky enough to live in Fairfield County, Connecticut, have come to expect? Here, I offer my modest proposal.

• A True-Life Personal Anecdote:

  • Unspoken Words — This story doesn’t readily fit into any particular category. I wanted to try writing something sentimental, but not sappy. It’s a fine line to walk, especially for me, as it’s not really my style. In 2006, this story was published in a book that briefly made it onto the New York Times best-seller list. It’s available on Amazon.com. For more information, you can also click here.

• Technology:

  • HPLC Spices Up the Food and Pharmaceutical Industries — An award-winning article on food science that appeared in a corporate publication and was later picked up by one of the wire services. (Of the seven deadly sins, gluttony is my personal favorite.)

• Poker:  

  • Shut Up and Deal — A heartwarming story about Friday night poker games. A reader from Australia e-mailed some nice things about this story, so I’ve included a link to his homepage — like many good Australian sites, it deals with beer and poker. I’ve also linked to the Octoroon Poker Club, which meets in neighboring Westchester County. Members of this group — like its leader, Tom Tringali, who sounds like a kindred spirit —  have sent several friendly e-mails.

  • House of Cards — A list of popular and not-so-popular games, with rules and commentary, as well as a link to the Bylaws of the Southwestern Connecticut Poker Association (SWCPA), which has conducted Friday night poker games for more than 30 years. Another Australian reader sent me a URL for his site, which involves, in his words, “beer, music and sport,” so I’m including a link to it here. (Evidently, Gravesend is popular “Down Under.” Many of the responses I’ve gotten regarding the poker sections of this site have come from Australia, including one from Cathy Jenkins, a Web designer from Canberra — click here — and the first female to show an interest in anything poker-related at Gravesend.)

  For an extensive poker site full of helpful information, as well as links to other poker-related sites, try Online Poker Tools, based in Manasquan, NJ, and managed by Chris Sorensen.

• Sports:

  • I’m No Role Model —  This short op-ed piece deals with sports and politics. If, like me, you love sports, but find athletes sickening, you might enjoy this one.

  • Game of the Decade — A longer article turned down by sports magazines nationwide. (Actually, I think it works quite well as a nostalgia piece.)

• Science Fiction:

  • Critical Mass — A rather longish short story rejected by science-fiction magazines all over the country. (Read it yourself to find out why.)

Political Satire: The first three items below were published “Letters to the Editor” (The Stamford Advocate); the last two were articles written for The Quayle Quarterly, a now-defunct magazine that once made fun of a now-forgotten former vice president.

Gun Control Election Pledge Heaven’s Gate Dan Quayle: Space Cadet Dan Quayle: Haggis for Dinner

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**From the Archives — Oldies From the Dim Past**

**New Joke Every Week or Whenever I Get Around to It**

In need of a laugh? Just click on Eric Cartman, my favorite T.V. personality,
for the Joke of the Week.
Careful — there is occasionally potential for being offended here.

Need a longer laugh? Try clicking on the Gerbilmania Link. Caution — This article (which I had no part in writing) concerns the social activities of some of our friends in the Gay Community and could offend squeamish readers. Contributed by a friend from Seattle, it purports to come from the Los Angeles Times, but I don’t think I believe it. In a darker vein, if you enjoy lawyer jokes, click here.

Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go, it’s one of the best.

The profound words crawling by above were written by
one of the great philosophers of the past half century.
Click here for more of the same

		The black-and white pinhole camera photo to the left was supplied by Paul Jones, professional photographer, carpenter and drinking buddy, as well as amateur poker player (the best kind — bad player, good loser, always brings plenty of cash). He’s finally gotten around to putting up some of his pictures on a site, which you can access by clicking on his head, which is right below the Bass Ale tap. You can also find a different collection of pinhole pictures by clicking here. (Unfortunately, he was too cheap to spring for color film.) Paul is also responsible for the commercial photo below ... that’s his hand expertly pouring the beer into the mug.

One of the best things about having a Web site is that I become acquainted with people I wouldn’t otherwise have gotten to know. For example, I’ve acquired a pen pal from Gravesend, England, Claire Bellot, who came upon my site while looking for information about her hometown. I’m hoping to announce her upcoming wedding in this space shortly. I’ve also gotten to know author Lawrence McAuliffe, which has been an interesting experience. He’s a disabled Vietnam War veteran and former chaplain, who’s written a well-received novel called Purple Sun. To read my review, as well as other readers’ critiques, click on the book jacket to go to Amazon.com, which enables readers to write book reviews on its site.
For an environmentally friendly Web site, take a look at August Pacific Publishing. It includes an alternative transportation newsletter, Fleets and Fuels, owned by crazy bastard Rich Piellisch, an aviation journalist and world traveler whom I met while covering air shows in places like Paris and Singapore for Aviation Week magazine. His site also includes a memorial page for poet Mark Leigh Gibbons, a onetime English professor at Rich’s alma mater, Boston College. Dr. Gibbons is honored by former students with a Pub Crawl of bars through the length of Manhattan, held annually on the first Saturday in May. I’ve found this event to be collegial, congenial and drunken. Rich is also a blues musician, so his site features links to the San Francisco blues scene. To go to his homepage, click on his ugly polka-dot tie or his even-uglier mug.
Here’s a book by a friend and co-worker — a fine poet named Sherry Fairchok. A graduate of Syracuse University, as well as Sarah Lawrence College’s master of fine arts program, she’s translated a blue-collar background of coal miners and immigrants into a powerful collection of heartfelt verse. She’s currently working on her first novel, which I’m also looking forward to reading. Sherry’s poetry is the kind of stuff I always wished I could write. Unfortunately, in my youth, what I did write was the sort of pretentious stuff graduate students with overly inflated vocabularies think is monumentally important and “artistic.” That’s why, if you’re lucky, you’ll never see any of it posted here. Click here or on the book jacket to buy Sherry’s book on Amazon.com.

Also located on Amazon.com is this book by an old friend, Penny Van Horn, who lives in Austin, Texas, with her daughter Ava, and has carved out a career in cartooning. Her stuff is rather dark ... along the lines of Harvey Pekar, about whom the disturbing movie “American Splendor” was made in 2003. Take a look at her book by clicking here, or on the book jacket to the right. You can also go to her Web site by clicking here.
	To the left is the home of high school pal Rolf Olsen, of Lebanon, New Hampshire. This is a beautiful part of New England, but I’ve only visited him there in the summer; I’m guessing it might be somewhat less hospitable in mid-February. To visit Rolf’s Web site, click on his massive forehead:

You’ve pretty much reached the end of the line here (and by now, you’re probably thinking, “Christ, it’s about time”). At this point, I’ll come clean and admit a shameful fact: Although I now consider myself a “recovering Christian,” in my misspent youth, I was a Baptist. I’m not doing any bragging about this, but at least I wasn’t a Southern Baptist, which ranks just below Wahhabi Islam and just slightly above Amway on my list of “The World’s 10 Most-Distasteful Cults.”

If, like me, you take a jaundiced view of religion in general, and fundamentalist Protestantism in particular, you might enjoy an amusing Web site that purports to be the homepage of a church somewhere in the Bible Belt: Landover Baptist. Southern Baptists generally have their sense of humor washed away, along with their sins, when they’re immersed; however, this site is a real hoot. For a different take on a similar subject, click here for a wacky site that was nice enough to include a link to mine.

And, finally, one last link you might want to take a look at. For those who view the occupation of editor as a superfluous waste of time, click here for some amusing photos that illustrate just how important this underpaid and underappreciated job can be.

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