08/16/08 Himes Takes 96% of Westport Votes

Jim Himes, a 42-year-old banker from Cos Cob who is running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep....

Full Story: Westport News

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08/14/08 Himes Wins in a Landslide

Jim Himes of Cos Cob, the Democratic Party-endorsed candidate in the 4th Congressional District, soundly defeated petitioning candidate Lee Whitnum of Greenwich in the Democratic Primary on Tuesday, Aug.

Full Story: Westport News

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Wednesday Aug. 6, 2008 Neither candidate in Democrat 4th District primary meets standard

To the Editor:

On Tuesday voters in the Democratic primary will be asked to decide between Jim Himes and Lee Whitnum.

Whitnum's campaign is based on personal anger, blaming the H1B program for her inability to find employment. Harvard educated, Whitnum's intellect is largely absent throughout her campaign, one which is based on her own necessities. Her lack of intellectual thinking was recently displayed in a debate when she advocated the return of Taliban rule for Afghanistan.

However, to her credit, she challenged a corrupt electoral system that has allowed the two-party system to prevent nominees not endorsed from running, forcing the non-endorsee to petition their way onto the ballot. Voters, not partisans, are more qualified in selecting nominees.

In fact, it was voters who chose DeStefano as the Democratic candidate for governor, even though a party convention had chosen Malloy.

Whitnum complains that Himes is of a privileged background, yet Himes says otherwise. Himes wants us to know that he previously worked for an organization that promoted affordable housing. No mention of his Harvard or Oxford degrees, his time as vice president at Goldman Sachs, or the $1.5 million home he owns in Cos Cob. It's fair to say that Himes is indeed from a privileged background, whether he accepts it or not.

If elected, Himes would certainly be liberal, advocating positions that may not be beneficial to our district, such as middle class tax increases. If residents want a representative who will simply show up to vote as the party desires, then Himes would be that candidate.

Since neither Whitnum or Himes are qualified to represent our moderate district, I recommend that we relay our dissatisfaction by writing in "None of the Above" on the ballot. It is time that we the people, not the party, determine through an open primary system, who best represents our views. Neither candidate satisfies that hurdle.

James Miller
Stamford

Source: Thehour.com

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08/02/08 Superman creation story is a lively read

With summer pop culture dominated by super-hero movies, Greenwich author Marc Tyler Nobleman has one of the most perfectly timed books of the year - "Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman" .

Although the oversized volume is designed for young readers, the lively and deeply researched text and the beautiful illustrations by Ross McDonald should also attract older comic-book fans.

"Boys of Steel" traces the long and rocky journey taken by two Depression-era Cleveland "nerds" — Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster — to create a new super-hero for one of the toughest periods in American history.

The two young men loved Flash Gordon and Tarzan, but wanted to create a fresh American hero.

"A brave, tough man who fought for truth and justice an alien who came from far away and now lived on Earth. The real Earth, the Great Depression Earth," Nobleman writes.

The most clever element in the character — the idea that separated Superman from Flash and Tarzan — was the fact that he had to keep his powers secret from human peers.

Young Siegel and Shuster saw Superman's alter ego of newspaperman Clark Kent to be someone like themselves.

" He would be meek and mild, like Joe and I are, and wear glasses, like we do," Jerry Siegel thought.

"No one would guess that such a hero was also someone like them," Nobleman explains.

"Boys of Steel" is the culmination of four years of work by Nobleman, who wanted to honor the creators of the comic books he's loved all of his life.

"I made steps to do the book when Jerry [Siegel] was still alive but I was told 'Jerry doesn't want to be reached. Don't even try,' " Nobleman recalled in a recent phone interview from his home in the Cos Cob section of Greenwich....

Full Story: Connecticut Post

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