We do got problems...

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2017)

I saw ERIN BROCKOVICH mere days before I saw Erin Brockovich and, while definitely worthwhile, the movie often focuses too much on the woman behind the case and not quite enough on the particulars of the case itself... much like what happened when she arrived here in wilmington, north carolina, to address 300 concerned citizens regarding Dupont's dumping of carcinogenic chemicals into the Cape Fear River (the source of drinking water for 250,000 north carolinians). Alongside a "water expert" who spouted indecipherable gobbledygook for the better part of an hour and a half, Brockovich said, in essence, that it's all up to US to get things Right (the Mayor of wilmington, who owns a construction company, didn't bother to show up at this Public Meeting- perhaps because he'd gotten wind of something that Brockovich revealed to us that night: that there's a pipeline like the infamous North Dakota Access Pipeline about to begin construction HERE, before long). Like we ain't got enough problems, already... Crack Town- wilmington- has been referred to as "Ground Zero" for the opioid epidemic in this company (the so-called "united" $tate$ of ameriKa), with a reported 13% of wilmingtonians hooked on opioids (my guesstimate is much higher- 40-50%-, based on personal interactions I've had with many of the locals over the past two decades). When I arrived here, the then-governor was in the process of accepting a bribe of half a million dollars from the local Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow them to dump Nuclear Waste into the Cape Fear River. (There was no follow-up investigation, as far as I know.) I've personally seen men openly armed with handguns in grocery stores, gyms, pawn shops and shopping mall parking lots hereabouts and the sight never fails to give me pause. The "housing" DE-Construction going on to accommodate the projected 65,000 newcomers to Crack Town over the next 10-15 years is causing even worse flooding than ever (my own used bookstore was flooded nearly 20 years ago). The bottom line: the denizens of Crack Town are up S--t Creek, without a paddle... News of some small comfort: Brockovich also told us that all of the water fountains in Washington have DON'T DRINK THE WATER! THE WATER IS POISON! signs on them. At least we're not alone...