The DeLand Country Club Estates in Florida are still undergoing a battery of sampling tests for the termite control chemical dieldrin, a chlorinated hydrocarbon that used to be employed as a pesticidal solution all over the United States. The chemical, however, was soon banned by the end of the 20^th Century, due to the discovery of its powerful persistence. Persistence in a chemical compound means its longevity or ability to resist decomposition over time. Nowadays, there are stringent laws that regulate the type of chemicals used for termite prevention or extermination, and these regulations take into account the persistence of chemicals, in order to make sure that no lasting toxins are left in treated areas. The problem that might arise were it otherwise is clear, of course: treated areas are also ones with human habitation.

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The discovery of dieldrin in the DeLand Estates is thus one that immediately saw an outcry of alarm from the local community, with residents taking to careful filtering of their water prior to usage and some even filing class action suits against the Country Club and the producers of dieldrin, Shell. As for the people heading the sampling, the officials from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, they are cautioning residents not to panic just yet, especially as it seems that quite a few positive samples are relatively lower than feared, even if they are cause for some concern.

Most of the land samples testing positive were apparently taken from the soil around the foundations of houses, indicating that most of the land-based traces of the pesticide were due to the chemical’s original usage as a termite control substance. Several other land samples, though, to the tune of about 1/4^th of those taken in the vicinity of the country club, posted far more dangerous figures. One sample even saw a figure of 18000mcg/kg—truly a frightening figure.

The big problem with dieldrin is that it is a termite control chemical that happens to manifest signs of bioamplification. In other words, its concentration in the food chain actually tends to go up, all the more as it is so persistent a substance. This chemical has been linked to various ailments, including cancer and immune system diseases. As such, officials in the area are already taking action to try and provide for possible fallouts.

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While sampling and investigation on the termite control chemical’s sources and prevalence continue, residents in the area are advised to use water filters or make use of the provided connections to city water instead, if their well sources are found to be among those afflicted by the issue. At the moment, the city well’s water source has not been found to test positive for dieldrin yet, even though it has already undergone two sampling tests.

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While a good number of political correctness advocates in themselves actually do not consider the “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” debate an important one, a good number of others do, and that debate tends to come to the forefront once the holiday season comes rolling in. In Florence, South Carolina, an auto glass repair shop owner has taken it upon himself to champion the cause of “Merry Christmas”, insisting that all his employees use “Merry Christmas” on the business phones and even producing a commercial to that effect.

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The commercial shows Danny Turner, the owner of the auto glass repair shop Turner’s Auto Glass, picking up a ringing phone and saying “Merry Christmas” to the caller, who happens to be a young girl belonging to the same church as Turner. The two then go into an exchange where the girl asks if Turner just used “Merry Christmas” instead of the allegedly more politically correct “Happy Holidays”, and Turner replies that he did because things were “crystal clear” to him and to all at his house: to Turner, the season was one in celebration of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, and thus one deserving of the word “Christmas”. The girl in the commercial replies to this by saying that the same was true of her home, where that matter was also as crystal clear as “looking through Turner’s Auto Glass”.

When Turner was interviewed by the press, it was clear that he felt very strongly about the matter, immediately going into a defence of “Merry Christmas” by quoting verses from a Bible in his possession. According to him, to say “Happy Holidays” is an actual denial of Christ. He spoke fervently in favour of the “Merry Christmas” greeting because of its obvious root in “Christ”, and said that it was only fitting that Jesus be the reference for such an occasion, given what he had done.

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The auto glass repair shop owner also made several assertions that he claimed to be related to the Christmas holiday as a whole, alleging that the origins of the nation were in Christianity. According to Turner, the original Pilgrims in America’s history were actually Christians looking for a place where they could worship in peace, and they tried Holland first before they finally discovered what they were looking for in America. He also said that the Christian faith is the sole faith with saviour who had risen from the dead, referencing the Bible heavily for his assertions and saying that it had been written by 400 persons over a period of seven centuries, yet was a text that managed to be completely harmonious and unified upon perusal. All of these, according to Turner, were further proof of the strength of the Christian faith and the value of remembering its saviour during the holiday season.

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The National Insurance Crime Bureau, more popularly called the NICB, recently released information regarding its figures on auto glass claims this year. Apparently, the figure for questionable auto glass claims for the first half of this year has gone down over sixty percent from the figure for last year’s first half.  To be precise, this year’s first half had the NICB receiving 495 questionable claims for auto glass in total—a sharp drop from last year’s first half, which was at a staggering 1498 questionable claims.

The figure for 2010 is actually remarkably high, even compared to other years.  Indeed, the first half figure for the year preceding it was even lower than this year’s, being at a remarkable 236 questionable claims in total.  A questionable claim as defined by the Bureau, by the way, is a claim wherein an insurance company that happens to be a member of the NICB refers or reports to the Bureau and requests that resources be dedicated to investigating the claim.  The investigation may be started only if the claim has been found to contain at least one possible sign of fraud, as defined by the Bureau’s documents and procedures.

The NICB keeps an eye on these figures in line with its specific mission as an organization.  Although the NICB is a non-profit organization, its purpose can easily be understood to profit a great many people, as it was formed to facilitate procedures of identification, investigation, detection, and even the very prosecution of those involved in matters of insurance crime.

Obviously, one of the most popular crimes in the category would be insurance fraud.  Indeed, there have been quite a few remarkable cases of insurance fraud with auto glass repair and replacement only lately, with several auto glass repair companies supposedly installing aftermarket or still fairly cheap OEM windshields and auto glass replacements on clients’ cars, then submitting bills to insurers that go far above the price of the actual materials used in replacement.  At least one of the incidents resolved only this year had one auto glass replacement owner sending bills to insurers for $300-worth replacements to the tune of a whopping $1000—a shocking inflation, to say the least.

Hence, the NICB’s existence and actions are only to be expected.  At the moment, the NICB is actually supported by around a thousand property and casualty insurance firms and is also working in tandem with law enforcement authorities in order to limit and punish fraud crimes wherever possible.  The statistics on the auto glass claims over the years are only the beginning: the NICB performs various other studies and monitoring research projects that may be used by insurers and law enforcers in the fight against insurance fraud.