20 December 2011

hello hooper, nebraska

hooper bay, alaska we'd heard of before, but until we received a recent visitor from hooper, nebraska ...

click picture to enlarge
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searching for (how apropros) information on zionism -- apparently looking for pictures to show that the occupy movement is anti-zionist and landing on a may 2008 wst... post here -- we had no knowledge of its existence.
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photo credit: nicole bengiveno/the new york times

according to this informative article in the new york times, "hooper -- population 827, more or less -- [got] its [name] either from an otherwise forgotten railroad official or from a man who won an uphill wagon race, and, with it, naming rights.

founded as a railroad depot in 1876, it grew to become a hub for farmers raising corn, soybeans and livestock — a point of interest along U.S. 275."

the new york times article states how the nebraska department of roads recently built a highway bypass around hooper, thereby depriving them of a lot of through traffic from travelers headed north to norfolk or south to omaha.

not to be outdone, the good people there banded together; took up a collection to erect that huge phallus highway sign to garner the attention and hopefully curiosity of passersby.

we like these people already.

anyway, other hooper's of the human persuasion that we're likely kin to -- although proving it on paper is nigh impossible -- thanks mostly to the war of northern aggression and all the records destruction it wrought, include:

william hooper (1742 - 1790) - a founding father and signer of the declaration of independence. hooper earned his law degree from harvard university back when a harvard law degree actually meant something. he was appointed a federal judge by president washington and served for a short period before his untimely death aged 48. he was a protégé of founding father james otis.

mr. otis was the guy who popularized the phrase "taxation without representation is tyranny." otis also believed that the african slaves should be equal to everyone else.

thomas hooper (1788 - 1851) - personal secretary to city of alexandria, louisiana founder alexander fulton - or so we've been told. after mr. fulton died, hooper married his widow, mary henrietta wells fulton.

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