June 26, 2019
Texas Community Associations – Economic Contributions, 2017
For more information, see the Community Association Fact Book 2017
Society, Finance & Housing

Wide gender and party gaps in views about the state of female leadership and the obstacles women face.
“The most common exterior wall materials on homes started in 2017 were vinyl and siding . Vinyl siding was used on 27 percent of the new homes started in 2017, followed closely by stucco (25 percent), brick or brick veneer (21 percent), and fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) (20 percent). Far smaller shares of single-family homes started last year had wood or wood products (5 percent) or stone or rock (1 percent) as the principal exterior wall material according to the data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC)”
Treese Notes:   There are several Excel Data Tables in the link above. I am only taking a data table image and footnote from part of "Table 1. Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2016 and 2017."
What’s in a Number? 393.3 million vs. 328.6 million
Treese Notes:   The smaller number is the U.S population while the larger number is the U.S. pet “population.” See 2017-2018 APPA National Pet Owners Survey Statistics: Pet Ownership & Annual Expenses. According to the 2017-2018 APPA National Pet Owners Survey , 68% of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 84.6 millions homes. In 1988, the first year the survey was conducted, 56% of U.S. households owned a pet. Breakdown of pet ownership in the U.S. according to the 2017-2018 APPA National Pet Owners Survey

Number of U.S. Households that Own a Pet (millions)
Bird                                7.9
Cat                                 47.1
Dog                               60.2
Horse                            2.6
Freshwater Fish        12.5
Saltwater Fish            2.5
Reptile                         4.7
Small Animal              6.7

Total Number of Pets Owned in the U.S. (millions)
Bird                              20.3
Cat                               94.2
Dog                              89.7
Horse                           7.6
Freshwater Fish       139.3
Saltwater Fish          18.8
Reptile                        9.4
Small Animal            14.0

A majority of new homes that completed construction in 2017 included two-car garages, according to NAHB analysis of 2017 Census Bureau Survey of Construction data. 

There is clear uniformity for parking options in new homes completed across the Census divisions. Except for West North Central division, the 2-car garage was the largest share of the completed homes in all other divisions. In the West North Central division, 3 or more car garages were associated with 47.7% of all completed homes, while 2-car garages were the second largest share at 44.2%. The South Atlantic division had the highest share of 2-car garages with 72.3%. One-car garages were most popular in the Middle Atlantic division, while “other” which includes carport, off-street parking, and other parking facilities was the largest share in New England.


Science, Technology & Environment

“The arrival of the digital age has also created challenges for the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Nation. The open, transnational, and decentralized nature of the Internet that we seek to protect creates significant vulnerabilities. Competitors deterred from engaging the United States and our allies in an armed conflict are using cyberspace operations to steal our technology, disrupt our government and commerce, challenge our democratic processes, and threaten our critical infrastructure.”
 
Treese Notes:  Is offense a better defense? The U.S. Department of Defense already has difficulty with cost containment on the hardware side. 
 
“It's no secret that computers are insecure. Stories like the recent Facebook hack , the Equifax hack and the hacking of government agencies are remarkable for how unremarkable they really are. They might make headlines for a few days, but they're just the newsworthy tip of a very large iceberg. The risks are about to get worse, because computers are being embedded into physical devices and will affect lives, not just our data. Security is not a problem the market will solve. The government needs to step in and regulate this increasingly dangerous space.

The primary reason computers are insecure is that most buyers aren't willing to pay -- in money, features, or time to market -- for security to be built into the products and services they want. As a result, we are stuck with hackable internet protocols, computers that are riddled with vulnerabilities and networks that are easily penetrated. We have accepted this tenuous situation because, for a very long time, computer security has mostly been about data. Banking data stored by financial institutions might be important, but nobody dies when it's stolen. Facebook account data might be important, but again, nobody dies when it's stolen. Regardless of how bad these hacks are, it has historically been cheaper to accept the results than to fix the problems. But the nature of how we use computers is changing, and that comes with greater security risks.”

“Analysis of recruitment data strongly supports anecdotal evidence that the field struggles to retain women early in their careers. Women with astronomy PhDs are leaving the field before landing a faculty job at a rate three to four times higher than are their male counterparts, a study of crowdsourced hiring data in the United States has revealed. The results support evidence that women in the field experience systemic hurdles such as hiring biases and harassment, and also confirms anecdotal reports that female astronomers leave the field more frequently than their male peers. The work 1 , by astronomer Kevin Flaherty at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, was posted on the arXiv preprint server on 2 October.”

“Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. It is an inherently interdisciplinary field that encompasses astronomy, biology, geology, heliophysics, and planetary science, including complementary laboratory activities and field studies conducted in a wide range of terrestrial environments. Combining inherent scientific interest and public appeal, the search for life in the solar system and beyond provides a scientific rationale for many current and future activities carried out by the National Aeronautics and Science Administration (NASA) and other national and international agencies and organizations. In 2017, Congress directed NASA to enter into an arrangement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to develop a science strategy for astrobiology that would outline key scientific questions, identify the most promising research in the field, and indicate the extent to which the mission priorities in existing decadal surveys address the search for life’s origin, evolution, distribution, and future in the universe (see Appendix A).”

Risk Management & Insurance

Treese Notes:   I was not able to access the case because while traveling the local Internet connection was iffy. Judging by the story, it appears the court believes that accidents/mistakes/errors (and possibly other calamities) that arise during construction and caused by subcontractors are intentionally caused by contractors. Or has the court, by its reasoning, fostered the notion that the mandatory purchase of insurance (as required in a contract) serves no purpose except to enrich insurers? Perhaps a reading of the case will tell the real story?

Quoting from a story:  The case, Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction Services, Inc. , arose in connection with damages to a hotel constructed on the campus of Ohio Northern University. After the building was completed, ONU found water intrusion and moisture damage in the interior. When remediating the water damage, the university found additional serious structural defects. In finding for the insurer, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that property damage caused by a subcontractor’s faulty work is not fortuitous and does not meet the definition of an “occurrence,” which is defined under a CGL policy as “an accident.” Instead, the chances that a subcontractor’s work might be faulty is a “business risk,” and the insurance policy did not cover those, the opinion concluded. The court offered that if it were so inclined, the Ohio General Assembly could define the term “occurrence” to include “property damage resulting from faulty workmanship.”

“Last month, California passed legislation that requires residential property insurers to take specific measures to review the estimated cost of rebuilding or repairing structures insured under residential property insurance policies. Assembly Bill 1797 added section 10103.4 to California’s Insurance Code. With certain, limited exceptions, under the new statute, residential property insurers must, at least biennially, at the time of renewal of a policy, offer to provide the insured an updated estimate of the cost to rebuild or replace the insured structures, or offer updated coverage limits based on an inflation factor that reflects the cost of construction in the policyholder’s geographic area.”

Treese Notes:   The story quotes part of the new law. Interestingly, see Section 10102 of California Insurance Code . In this Section, see this about condominiums:
   “10104. (a) As used in this chapter, “policy of residential property insurance” shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 10087, except that it shall not include a tenant’s policy, a policy covering individually owned mobilehomes and their contents, a renter’s policy, or a policy insuring individually owned condominium units, when those policies do not provide dwelling structure coverage. If a policy insuring an individually owned condominium does provide dwelling structure coverage, an insurer is required to provide the disclosure required in this chapter. (b) As used in this chapter, “insurer” shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 10091. (Amended by Stats. 1993, Ch. 11, Sec. 3. Effective May 5, 1993.)”

Since all HO-6s include some amount of common element real property insurance in Coverage A, the implications of the new law would imply that insurers need to assess the replacement cost limits of Coverage A. This is unlikely to happen.

Treese Notes:   Please see the definitions of “Who is a firefighter” and “What constitutes on-duty fatality.” See this Quick Summary next.
Treese Notes:  This article is one indication of what GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) may mean in the EU in terms of the information about yourself that you might/should receive upon request. Coming in YR2020 is the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Privacy --- insurance and risk management --- was part of the CIRMS Programs at the CAI 2019 Law Seminar in New Orleans. While I have posted on this article before, take a look at Brian Krebs What the Marriott Data Breach Says About Security . Also, take note of the fine Google is facing for “forcing consent” under GDPR. Fines, especially big fines can sometimes get the attention of the breaching party, but in the U.S. there are no similar fines as to what can be made under GDPR. Until the U.S. adopts stringent data protection and large fines --- expect more breaches of (your) privacy.

World

After a condo unit owner constructed a backyard deck on the common elements abutting the owner’s unit without obtaining the consent of the condominium corporation, the corporation applied for a court order compelling the owner to enter into a section 98 agreement. (D.C.C. No. 43 v. Bradley) Section 98 of the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) provides that owners cannot make any addition, alteration or improvement (“Alteration”) to the common elements without obtaining the consent of the corporation and without entering into an agreement that allocates the cost of the Alteration between the owner and the corporation, and also sets out their respective duties and responsibilities relating to repair after damage, maintenance and insurance of the Alteration. The Act further requires that section 98 agreements must be registered on title so that the obligations of the owner relating to the Alteration will be binding on future owners of the unit.

Excerpt, there are 156 countries listed.
Those seeking ways to end the Congo Ebola outbreak's longevity and persistence say the issues it raises go to the heart of what public health means in the 21st century. Congo's Ebola outbreak and its deadly spread to Uganda in recent days show how societal issues are as crucial as scientific advances in controlling disease outbreaks, specialists in global public health say. Medical scientists, prompted by a devastating West African Ebola epidemic between 2013 and 2016, have worked fast to develop cutting edge vaccines, treatments and antibody-based therapies they hoped would prevent or halt future outbreaks of the virus. That includes an Ebola vaccine developed by Merck & Co Inc that proved more than 95 percent effective in clinical trials. But the current Ebola outbreak has continued to spread relentlessly since it began in August 2018 in Democratic Republic Congo's North Kivu province.

Book Review/Essay

Amanda Porterfield, Corporate Spirit: Religion and the Rise of the Modern Corporation . New York: Oxford University Press , 2018. viii + 204 pp. $35 (hardcover), ISBN: 978-0-19-937265-2.  At Barnes & Noble
Review :  In Corporate Spirit, Amanda Porterfield (Spivey Professor of Religion at Florida State University) argues there is a long “kinship between churches and commercial institutions” (p. 1), based on corporatism. The apostle Paul wrote that diverse church members are all incorporated into the body of Christ. This involves: 1) members, playing different roles, yet unified and equal in the church; and 2) accountability for behaviors incompatible with the corporate spirit. Porterfield heavily emphasizes accountability in her history. Quickly, by historical standards, churchly structures, practices, and internal cohesion, became models for other organizations, even those whose core identities were not religious in nature. The opening three chapters cover developments up to the English settlement of North America. The early Christian church is portrayed as a well-organized counter-cultural force in the Roman Empire — modeling humility, respect for others, and charity over typical Roman values. By the fourth century, Christian organizations “exerted greater influence than their numbers would suggest” (p. 16). After the fall of Rome, churchly systems of penance imposed accountability based on legalistic and a transactional thinking — well-suited for commercial thought. Other corporate organizations blossomed, including monasteries, guilds, independent cities and civic organizations. These religious and secular organizations conferred personal dignity, duties, rights and obligations on members.


Critical Thinking?!?


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