Traton News

TRATON NEWS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS

9999-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

REVISED: 2008 JUNE 09

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TRATON NEWS: WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY

9999-12-31T23:58:00.000-08:00

REVISED 2009 MAY 04

By visiting the Traton News website, you are accepting the practices described in this notice.

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If you choose to visit the website of Traton News, your visit and any dispute over privacy is subject to this WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY and our TERMS AND CONDITIONS, including limitations on damages, arbitration of disputes, and application of the law of the state of Ohio. If you have any concern about privacy at the website for Traton News, please send us a thorough description in accordance with the TERMS AND CONDITIONS, and we will try to resolve it. This notice and the TERMS AND CONDITIONS may change, and use of information we gather now is subject to the WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY in effect at the time of use. You should check our website frequently for changes.

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TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Sample Calculations

2012-02-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

In our prior article, we provided a simple way of calculating skewness (S) as a function of a mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD). We now apply that estimate to concrete examples.

As our first example, we presume the following hypothetical revenue values:

Q1 = $240,000
m = $300,000
M = $395,364
Q3 = $450,000

Insofar as:

Eq. 2
SD = 1.34896(Q3-Q1)

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD, where:
S = 3($395,364-$300,000)/1.34896($450,000-$240,000), resulting in:
S = 1.84

Having calculated S to be 1.84, we can now estimate the revenue values for the 95th percentile, the 99th percentile, or any other percentile, given the relationship between the standard deviation (SD), skewness (S), and the mean (M).

Back-calculating from Eq. 1, we have:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

Eq. 15
S = 3(M-m)/(Q/k)

Eq. 16
S Q = 3k(M-m)

Eq. 17
Q = 3k(M-m)/S

where Q is quantile difference (e.g., Q3-Q1), and k is the scaling constant that relates Q to SD.

Thus, in order to calculate the actual value of the revenue for a particular percentile, we simply add the mean (M) to the Q value, such that:

Eq. 18
% = M+Q

Reviewing the scaling constants for 95% and 99%, we have:

k(95) = 1.959964
k(99) = 2.575829

Thus:

Revenue(95%) = $700,482.34

and

Revenue(99%) = $796,357.42

Voila!

We hope that this lesson in statistical calculations has been helpful.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Quantiles, Part II

2012-02-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

Our previous post left off with calculating a quantile (or percentile) from a single-equation-two-unknown situation. We now continue that discussion with how we can provide a reasonable estimate from the unknowns, if we have available two additional pieces of information. Namely, the mean (M) and the standard deviation (SD).

First, we start with a presumption that skewness (S) can also be related to a mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD) by the following (simplified) equation:

Eq. 7
S = 3(M-m)/SD

Of course, this equation provides only a rough estimate, and may not be true in all circumstances. However, as Pearson proposed, it provides a reasonable estimate of the skewness.

Insofar as the standard deviation for normalized curves is related to the quantiles or percentiles by a well-defined rule, a simple look-up of that relationship can provide the needed information to estimate a quantile or percentile from the mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD).

So, arbitrarily defining standard deviation (SD) as a function:

Eq. 8
SD = f[Q]

or

Eq. 9
Q = g[SD]

Insofar as the f[] and g[] are inverse equations.

We see that the skewness (S) can now be defined in terms of f[Q] to be:

Eq. 10
S = 3(M-m)/f[Q]

From our previous post, skewness (S) was calculated to be:

Eq. 4
S = (U+L-2m)/(U-L)

Thus, if U and L can be calculated from Eq. 1, and be defined as:

Eq. 11
U = g[SD_U]

and

Eq. 12
L = g[SD_L]

The skewness equations can be re-written as:

Eq. 13
S = 3(M-m)/SD = (g[SD_U]+g[SD_L]-2m)/(g[SD_U]-g[SD_L])

This now provides an equation of skewness (S) in terms of the mean (M), median (m), and standard deviation (SD), without any need for quantiles or percentiles. Alternatively, knowing that the relationship between quantiles or percentiles is defined in terms of the standard deviation (SD), we can re-write Eq. 13 as:

Eq. 14
S = 3(M-m)/f[Q] = (U+L-2m)/(U-L)

which now defines skewness (S) in terms of mean (M), median (m), and percentiles or quantiles.

With these estimates, our next post is dedicated to providing example calculations of quantiles or percentiles using these equations.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Quantiles, Part I

2012-02-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

In a prior post, we reported on statistical analysis and specifically how one calculates skewness (S) when one knows the median (m), the first quartile (Q1), and the third quartile (Q3). In this article, we move forward and provide a simple equation for calculating a particular quantile (%) in view of the median (m) and the skewness (S) of a distribution.

Previously, we provided a simplified equation for skewness (S) as being:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

where:

Eq. 2
SD = 1.34896(Q3-Q1)

because of a well-defined relationship between the standard deviation and the percentiles.

This, however, can be more generalized to calculate skewness (S) in view of particular quantile numbers. So, instead of the left and right quartiles — i.e., the 25th and 75th percentiles — one can just as plausibly use the 20th and 80th percentiles, the 10th and 90th percentiles, or more generally the 100p^th and 100(1 – p)^th percentiles F^-1(p) and F^-1(1 – p).

So, designating:

Eq. 3
F^-1(p) = L

and

Eq. 4
F^-1(1 – p) = U

the revised equation reduces to:

Eq. 5
S = 3(M-m)/(k(U-L))

where k represents the conversion value between the percentiles (or quantiles) and the standard deviation (SD).

Thus, one can see that the quartile (Q1, Q3) equation can be derived from the quantile equation, since:

Eq. 6
L = Q1

and

Eq. 7
U = Q3

thereby reducing the general equation to the quartile equation by simple substitution.

Eq. 8
S = 3(M-m)/1.34896(Q3-Q1)

Intuitively, it may seem that with knowledge of S, M, m, and SD, one can calculate any percentile or quantile of L and U.

A detailed explanation of this calculation is provided in the next article by my colleague Morley Moore.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON STATISTICS: Math Lesson for the Day - Simple Calculations of Skewness

2012-02-05T02:00:00.000-08:00

Various organizations gather information for purposes of statistical analysis. Oftentimes, reporting the raw numbers results in an unmanageable (and often difficult-to-decipher) mess. Consequently, instead of reporting all of the raw numbers, these organizations report the data size (n), quartiles (Q1, Q3), medians (m), means (M), etc. Sometimes, to the misfortune of the inquisitive reader, these reporting organizations only report some of the statistical information (e.g., Q1, Q3, m), thereby leaving the reader to calculate other statistical information. Additionally, while the data-gathering organizations frequently presume that the data is normally distributed, this is often not true, and the distribution exhibits some type of skew.

Through this article, we provide a simple way of calculating some of the useful information associated with a statistical distribution when only a limited amount of information is provided. Specifically, this article explains a simple way to calculate:

(a) skewness (S),

when one knows the:

(a) median (m);
(b) mean (M);
(c) first quartile (Q1, which is 25%); and
(d) third quartile (Q3, which is 75%).

The simplified equation for skewness (S) is:

Eq. 1
S = 3(M-m)/SD

where:

Eq. 2
SD = 1.34896(Q3-Q1)

In our next article, my colleague Ingrid Ingram will discuss the calculations of particular quantiles in view of other known statistical information.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Dissatisfied Home Buyer Questions Why Traton Homes Attempted to Sell Property that Traton Homes Did Not Own

2011-10-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

Given the difficult housing market in the United States, it seems obvious that integrity and customer service would be the main focus of companies that wish to retain customers. Traton Homes seems to be taking a different approach, according to an email message sent to Traton Homes by Paul Mullings, a dissatisfied home buyer.

In that email message, Mr. Mullings "question[s] the integrity and business practices of Traton Homes[,]" given the broken promises and questionable business practices by Traton Homes. Specifically, Mr. Mullings accuses Traton Homes of "attempt[ing] to sell [the Mullings] property that they [Traton Homes] never owned." This, despite holding onto tens-of-thousands of dollars of the Mullings' money.

In exasperation, Mr. Mullings notes: "We incurred significant cost satisfying our part of the purchase agreement, including loan approval and associated expenses, visits to the design center to chose finishes, interest rate lock-in, storage costs of our belongings due to an undetermined closing date . . . just to name a few."

As a result of Traton Homes' unsatisfactory business practice, Mr. Mullings will likely walk away from this transaction. And, Traton Homes will have alienated another potential customer, an imprudent decision given the state of the housing market.

When others have been asked, it appears that Mr. Mullings' experience with Traton Homes is not an isolated incident. Rather, others have questioned Traton Homes' business practices and the integrity of the company.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

Mr. Mullings' email message to the real-estate agent for Traton Homes recites, in relevant part:

From: PAUL MULLINGS
To: stevenplee@comcast.net
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 9:40 PM

Steve, at this point we are not interested in lot 4 at Holmes and frankly, I am at the point where I question the integrity and business practices of Traton Homes. We have patiently waited for a "signature" for nearly three weeks, and still no signature. We gave Traton a $7500 cash downpayment two months ago, followed by an additional $12,000 in cash for upgrades. All we have to show for the nearly $20,000 earnest money that we put forth is a purchase agreement that has not been initiated on your end. I doubt I will ever understand why Traton attempted to sell us property that they never owned. That said, we will give Traton until COB friday, April 22, to obtain the elusive signatures. If we do not come to closure by then, then we fully expect to be made whole immediately. We incurred significant cost satisfying our part of the purchase agreement, including loan approval and associated expenses, visits to the design center to chose finishes, interest rate lock-in, storage costs of our belongings due to an undetermined closing date . . . just to name a few. I am certain that you will agree that we have been patient and understanding, however, we have reached our limit . . . . I do not blame you for this unfortunate situation. We are in a position to purchase a home now, and the delays that we have experienced are no longer acceptable.

Also, a copy of the letter from Mr. Mullings' real-estate agent to Traton Homes shows:
coldwell_mullings

TRATON HEADLINE: Cobb County Foreclosure Forecast Appears Bleak for September

2011-09-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb County appears to be in for trouble with foreclosures and a drop in new housing permits. By the numbers, there are 1,256 foreclosures scheduled for September, which is a 16 percent increase from August.

New construction also shows no sign of quick recovery, though the numbers in Cobb for this year show much more new construction going up than in the past two years. While Traton Homes continues to build, some question the quality of those homes, especially since new homes are being built to be "affordable."

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HEADLINE: Remembering an Honorable Man and an Incredible Mentor - Christopher H. Sotak

2011-05-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

On 2011 May 28, the world lost an incredible man, who had positively touched the lives of many. Prof. Christopher H. Sotak, former head of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, passed away after a long struggle with cancer.

Speaking of Prof. Sotak, one of his former students, Prof. Sam Han, stated:

Chris was one of the most honorable people that I knew. He always placed his students' best interests before his own. In fact, he was the reason that I decided to go into teaching. I can only hope to treat my students as well as he treated me. I shall always remember Chris as a good teacher, a good scientist, a good mentor, and a good friend. The world was richer for his presence, and the world loses an incredible man with Chris' passing away.

Similar sentiments were expressed by another former student:

Aside from my parents, Chris has been the most influential person in helping to shape my life and scientific career. Chris was the best advisor to me, but most importantly, he was a friend. He was there when I needed guidance, and reminded me of my own dad. Chris was, and will always remain, one of my favorite people!

It seems fitting to end this post with the Biblical blessing from Numbers 6:24-26:

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Home Buyers Dissatisfied with Traton Homes' Failure to Resolve Title Issues

2011-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

A recent letter to Traton Homes reveals how Mr. and Mrs. Mullings have been given the "run-around" by Traton Homes.

TRATON Title Problem Letter Lee Mullings Reeves

Apparently, in numerous conversations with Joshua Hilscher (Vice President for Traton Homes) the company had repeatedly postponed the closing of 4598 Wigley Estates Drive, Marietta, GA 30066. Traton Homes apparently had stated that there was an issue with the title. However, according to the letter, the closing attorney's search revealed no issues with the title.

From the tone of the letter, it seems as if Traton Homes continues to accumulate dissatisfied customers.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HOMES: Ridiculous Warranty Issue Plagues Traton Homes Customer

2011-03-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

When a customer buys a half-million-dollar house, he hopes that there will be no issues to sour his experience. Unfortunately for Jay Hutchison, his half-million-dollar purchase experience from Traton Homes was not as perfect as he hoped.

A recent email message from Mr. Hutchison highlights some shoddy workmanship relating to his purchase, which he repeatedly calls his "house" rather than his "home." While Mr. Hutchison's letter is not all negative, he emphasizes that the warranty issue "negatively altered [his] perception of the whole experience." In specifying his issue, Mr. Hutchison wrote:

The fact that we paid Traton nearly a half million dollars for our house, and got no warranty on the $11,000+ deck, and specifically the $1000 stairs, when everything else in the house is warrantied, is ridiculous. I was very offended at being made to swallow that bitter pill as the paying customer . . . .

Continuing to voice his dissatisfaction, Mr. Hutchison wrote:

A lot [of] the decking was installed upside down, (which I noticed the first time I walked onto it), the screen porch was designed to have silver screens screwed straight onto very barky and twisted 4x4's, the railings were poorly attached with only 2.5" nails, and the railings and stairs weren't reinforced enough to be "sturdy." But alas, no warranty or recourse.

Going so far as to say that the resulting house "goes against the spirit of workmanship and confidence that Traton promotes[,]" and that this was "was far below the quality that Traton strives for, or holds itself to[,]" Mr. Hutchison recounts how he was forced to take matters into his own hands, pry out the upside-down-installed deck boards, and spend several days installing 4x4 posts and 2x4 supports.

Despite his efforts, it still appears that the whole lower flight is wobbly, thereby requiring "more deck work." As of the date of his email message, he had already put over a full work-week into the decking and railings.

In his penultimate note of exasperation, Mr. Hutchison notes that he is "not sure how this is acceptable that these issues are my problem[.]"

Others that have experienced first-hand how Traton Homes treats its customers have noted that Mr. Hutchison's experience resonates with them, insofar as the quality that Traton Homes touts is jarringly at odds with what the Marietta-based company delivered. A quick glimpse of the negative press that Traton Homes received in the past shows that Mr. Hutchison is not the only one with complaints.

Given that the economy does not look favorably on home builders, these types of issues should be rare occurrences, rather than commonplace experiences.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: CincyBIO 2011 to Bring Together Innovators and Intellectual Property Professionals

2011-03-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association (CincyIP) and Proctor & Gamble (P&G) sponsor CincyBIO 2011, what they call "the bioscience event" for innovators and intellectual property (IP) professionals. This year the event is held on Tuesday, 2011 March 8, at the Phoenix Cincinnati.

Bringing together bioscience professionals with varied backgrounds, the event provides opportunities for innovators to connect with IP professionals, and also allows IP attorneys to receive continuing legal education (CLE) credits. The line-up looks promising, with Sam Han (University of Dayton) kicking off the event and Tom Irving (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, and Dunner) closing the event. The specific schedule is:

8:00-8:15am – Introductions

• Lindsey L. Jaeger, Esq., S.S.B.B., Patent Attorney, Wolfe, LPA and President of CincyIP
• Kelly McDow, Associate General Counsel – Legal Division, The Procter & Gamble Company and Chair of CincyBIO Steering Committee

8:15-9:00am – Man v. Nature: Patentability of Second-Generation Biological Organisms

• Sam S. Han, Esq., Ph.D. (University of Dayton)

9:00-9:45am – Making Sensible Patent Investments

• Bob MacWright, Esq., Ph.D. (Executive Director of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Office of Technology Development)

10:00-10:45am – USPTO’s Green Technology Initiative

• Esther Kepplinger (Chief Patent Counselor at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and former Deputy Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO)

10:45-11:45am – Biosimilars Legislation and the Biosimilar Approval Pathway

• Kevin Noonan, Esq., Ph.D. (McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, LLP and Patent Docs Weblog)

11:45 to 12:45 – Lunch sponsored by Frost Brown Todd, LLC
12:45 – 2:15pm – IP Considerations for Medical Devices from Start-ups to Fortune 500 Companies

• Panel Discussion moderated by Mary Beth Privitera (M.Design, University of Cincinnati) featuring Dan Kincaid (BIOSTART), Joseph E. Topmiller (Zimmer, Inc.), and Sam Privitera

2:30-3:30pm – FDA Regulation for Medical Devices

• Elsa Abruzzo (President of ARAC)

3:30-4:15pm – How Statements to the FDA Can Create Some Real Challenges in Patent Prosecution and Enforcement

• Tom Irving, Esq. (Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP)

Many have indicated that they look forward to the event.

More information and registration information can be found at Cincy-IP's website.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON ARTS: The Value of Music

2011-02-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

The reporters of Traton News were recently informed of a talk that was given to entering freshmen by Karl Paulnack, who is the pianist and director of music division at Boston Conservatory. Director Paulnack speaks of the value of music. The following excerpt captures his thoughts on music and its role in society.

One of my parents' deepest fears, I suspect, is that society would not properly value me as a musician, that I wouldn't be appreciated. I had very good grades in high school, I was good in science and math, and they imagined that as a doctor or a research chemist or an engineer, I might be more appreciated than I would be as a musician. I still remember my mother's remark when I announced my decision to apply to music school-she said, "you're WASTING your SAT scores." On some level, I think, my parents were not sure themselves what the value of music was, what its purpose was. And they LOVED music, they listened to classical music all the time. They just weren't really clear about its function. So let me talk about that a little bit, because we live in a society that puts music in the "arts and entertainment" section of the newspaper, and serious music, the kind your kids are about to engage in, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment, in fact it's the opposite of entertainment. Let me talk a little bit about music, and how it works.

The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works.

One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp.

He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.

Given what we have since learned about life in the concentration camps, why would anyone in his right mind waste time and energy writing or playing music? There was barely enough energy on a good day to find food and water, to avoid a beating, to stay warm, to escape torture-why would anyone bother with music? And yet-from the camps, we have poetry, we have music, we have visual art; it wasn't just this one fanatic Messiaen; many, many people created art. Why? Well, in a place where people are only focused on survival, on the bare necessities, the obvious conclusion is that art must be, somehow, essential for life. The camps were without money, without hope, without commerce, without recreation, without basic respect, but they were not without art. Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, "I am alive, and my life has meaning."

On September 12, 2001 I was a resident of Manhattan. That morning I reached a new understanding of my art and its relationship to the world. I sat down at the piano that morning at 10 AM to practice as was my daily routine; I did it by force of habit, without thinking about it. I lifted the cover on the keyboard, and opened my music, and put my hands on the keys and took my hands off the keys. And I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn't this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent, pointless. Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost.

And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano again. And then I observed how we got through the day.

At least in my neighborhood, we didn't shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We didn't play cards to pass the time, we didn't watch TV, we didn't shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York, that same day, was singing. People sang. People sang around fire houses, people sang "We Shall Overcome." Lots of people sang America the Beautiful. The first organized public event that I remember was the Brahms Requiem, later that week, at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic. The first organized public expression of grief, our first communal response to that historic event, was a concert. That was the beginning of a sense that life might go on. The US Military secured the airspace, but recovery was led by the arts, and by music in particular, that very night.

From these two experiences, I have come to understand that music is not part of "arts and entertainment" as the newspaper section would have us believe. It's not a luxury, a lavish thing that we fund from leftovers of our budgets, not a plaything or an amusement or a pass time. Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of the ways in which we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can't with our minds.

Some of you may know Samuel Barber's heart-wrenchingly beautiful piece Adagio for Strings. If you don't know it by that name, then some of you may know it as the background music which accompanied the Oliver Stone movie Platoon, a film about the Vietnam War. If you know that piece of music either way, you know it has the ability to crack your heart open like a walnut; it can make you cry over sadness you didn't know you had. Music can slip beneath our conscious reality to get at what's really going on inside us the way a good therapist does.

I bet that you have never been to a wedding where there was absolutely no music. There might have been only a little music, there might have been some really bad music, but I bet you there was some music. And something very predictable happens at weddings- people get all pent up with all kinds of emotions, and then there's some musical moment where the action of the wedding stops and someone sings or plays the flute or something. And even if the music is lame, even if the quality isn't good, predictably 30 or 40 percent of the people who are going to cry at a wedding cry a couple of moments after the music starts. Why? The Greeks. Music allows us to move around those big invisible pieces of ourselves and rearrange our insides so that we can express what we feel even when we can't talk about it. Can you imagine watching Indiana Jones or Superman or Star Wars with the dialogue but no music? What is it about the music swelling up at just the right moment in ET so that all the softies in the audience start crying at exactly the same moment? I guarantee you if you showed the movie with the music stripped out, it wouldn't happen that way. The Greeks: Music is the understanding of the relationship between invisible internal objects.

What follows is part of the talk I will give to this year's freshman class when I welcome them a few days from now. The responsibility I will charge your sons and daughters with is this:

"If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies, you'd take your work very seriously because you would imagine that some night at two AM someone is going to waltz into your emergency room and you're going to have to save their life. Well, my friends, someday at 8 PM someone is going to walk into your concert hall and bring you a mind that is confused, a heart that is overwhelmed, a soul that is weary. Whether they go out whole again will depend partly on how well you do your craft.

You're not here to become an entertainer, and you don't have to sell yourself. The truth is you don't have anything to sell; being a musician isn't about dispensing a product, like selling used Chevies. I'm not an entertainer; I'm a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker. You're here to become a sort of therapist for the human soul, a spiritual version of a chiropractor, physical therapist, someone who works with our insides to see if they get things to line up, to see if we can come into harmony with ourselves and be healthy and happy and well.

Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I expect you not only to master music; I expect you to save the planet. If there is a future wave of wellness on this planet, of harmony, of peace, of an end to war, of mutual understanding, of equality, of fairness, I don't expect it will come from a government, a military force or a corporation. I no longer even expect it to come from the religions of the world, which together seem to have brought us as much war as they have peace. If there is a future of peace for humankind, if there is to be an understanding of how these invisible, internal things should fit together, I expect it will come from the artists, because that's what we do. As in the concentration camp and the evening of 9/11, the artists are the ones who might be able to help us with our internal, invisible lives.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON SPORTS: Samuel Sevian - Youngest Chess Master Ever

2011-02-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas, 2010, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) announced that Samuel Sevian broke the record for the youngest USCF master, ever. Sevian accomplished this feat only a week before his tenth (10th) birthday, beating the prior record by three (3) days.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HEADLINE: Icelandic Court Allows Exhumation of Chess Great Bobby Fischer in Paternity Suit

2011-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

In a paternity suit, Iceland's Supreme Court decided to allow the exhumation of Bobby Fischer's remains to determine whether he is the father of a nine-year-old girl, Jinky Young.

As reported earlier by Traton News, Fischer died in Iceland in January 2008 at the age of 64.

Lawyers for the girl stated that the exhumation of Fischer's remains was a "last resort."

Fischer is buried in southwestern Iceland, about 30 miles from Reykjavik. He had lived in the country since 2005.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON SCIENCE: Total Lunar Eclipse in December Skies

2010-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

A particularly special Christmas present comes to us from Mother Nature herself. On the nights of 2010 December 20 and 21, folks in North America will see a display that is not scheduled to occur again until 2014 April: a total eclipse of the moon. This is the only eclipse scheduled to occur in 2010, and will be visible to folks in four different continents.

The last total lunar eclipse occurred on 2008 February 20. As reported by space.com:

Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes through a point in its orbit in which the Earth is directly between it and the sun. When the moon enters the shadow of Earth, it creates a lunar eclipse. Unlike a solar eclipse, no precautions to protect the eyes are needed.

A total lunar eclipse is when the entire moon is completely inside the Earth's shadow. Since the sun's rays are bent by Earth's atmosphere so that some still reach the moon, the moon is still visible in an eclipse.

For the United States, this eclipse begins on 2010 December 21 at 12:29 am EST (9:29 pm PST on 2010 December 20) as the moon begins to enter Earth's penumbral shadow, lasting for 72 minutes. Changes in the moon's appearance will be noticeable at around the 45-minute mark.

As the reporters from space.com continue:

The entire total lunar eclipse will be visible from all of North and South America, the northern and western parts of Europe, and a small part of northeast Asia, including Korea and much of Japan.

Totality will also be visible in its entirety from the North Island of New Zealand and Hawaii. In all, an estimated 1.5 billion people will have an opportunity to enjoy the best part of this lunar show.

In other parts of the world, only the partial stages of the eclipse will be visible or the eclipse will occur when it's daytime and the moon is not above their local horizon.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON SCIENCE: Meteor Shower to Dazzle Skies in December

2010-12-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

December will feature the best meteor shower of 2010. The Geminid meteor shower, which returns every year, will sparkle the night sky during the overnight hours of 2010 December 13. The Geminid are unique in being associated not with a comet, but with an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.

The Geminids will peak after midnight until the early-morning hours of 2010 December 14, when the Earth heads directly into the meteoroid stream. By 6:00 am EST, the shower will be at its peak in the Eastern Time Zone. The Geminids are expected to stay in view above the horizon all night. As intuitively expected, the Geminid meteor shower will be visible in the direction of the constellation Gemini, with clear dark skies promising the best viewing conditions.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Controversy Over Star Trek Causes Uproar

2010-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

A Star Trek article, posted by News.com Australia, has sparked an online uproar. While the article may appear relatively benign, the mistakenly-reported facts caused an uproar among Star Trek fans.

In response to the uproar from Star Trek lovers world-wide, Peter Farquhar (the Technology Editor) issued a "formal apology," which shows Captain Picard flipping off the readers.

Both the original article and the apology highlight the gravity and levity of Star Trek. Fan input relating to the "correct facts" about the Enterprise evidence the iconic nature of Star Trek. Also, flamers' responses to the outrage evidence how Star Trek still sparks debate.

One can only imagine Gene Roddenberry's response to this ongoing dialogue.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram.

TRATON HOMES: Touchstone Homes Wins Two OBIE Awards

2010-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

The 30th Annual "Then & Now 1980-2010" OBIE Awards Gala was held at the Buckhead Intercontinental Hotel on 2010 November 13. At the Awards Gala, Touchstone Homes won one Gold OBIE Award for its Single Family Detached home plan, and also one Gold OBIE Award for Single Family Attached home plan.

These Touchstone Homes included flexible floor-plans and Energy Star Certification, among many other features. Included in the Touchstone Homes floor-plans are the Huntingdon plan and the Halifax town-home plan, both of which can be found on Touchstone Homes' website.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: State Bar of Georgia Condones Attorney Misconduct

2010-11-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

The State Bar of Georgia recently approved of unethical behavior by an attorney, despite overwhelming evidence of the attorney's misconduct.

The original grievance, which was filed with the State Bar of Georgia, included pages of exhibits in which the attorney admitted in open court that he was unable to properly advise his clients because of an existing conflict.

Reviewing the documents, the incident arose in the context of a lawsuit where the attorney jointly represented multiple clients, who were defendants in a lawsuit. The plaintiff extended an aggregate settlement offer to all of the defendants, only to later discover that the attorney withheld the settlement offer from most of the clients. In the attorney's own words, the settlement offer "was presented to the people that have authority to make the decisions[,]" likely referring to the insurance company.

Upon discovering that defense counsel withheld the aggregate settlement offer from his clients, the plaintiff extended a second settlement offer to only one of the named defendants. In that second offer, the plaintiff offered to dismiss that defendant in exchange for her truthful testimony against her co-defendants. That offer placed the defendant in direct conflict with her co-defendants, and the attorney freely admitted as follows:

once that offer came over, I cannot advise her since I represent the other defendants whether she should or shouldn't testify against the other defendants.

Given these circumstances, plaintiff's counsel filed a grievance against defense counsel for: (a) withholding a settlement offer from his clients; and (b) continuing with representation in the face of an impermissible conflict-of-interest.

In response, Mr. Jonathan Hewett, the Senior Assistant General Counsel for the State Bar of Georgia "completed [his] review of [the] grievance against attorney." Despite defense counsel's admissions, Hewett found that "[u]nder the circumstances, a violation of Georgia's ethics rules is not presented."

In commenting about this grievance, one law professor noted:

It comes as no surprise that the reputation of the legal profession is tarnished. First, we have attorneys that disregard their ethical obligations to the client by withholding settlement offers from the client. And, then, we have the State Bar of Georgia turning a blind eye to these violations.

Commenting further, the professor stated:

I have asked my colleagues and my students whether withholding a settlement offer from a client is an ethical breach, and uniformly they answered "yes." I then asked if offering one client to testify against another client creates a conflict-of-interest, and they saw no way of reconciling that conflict.

In further discussing the issue, the professor noted:

What makes this even worse is that a fellow member of the bar filed the grievance. This was a situation in which one of its own members self-policed the profession to uphold the integrity of the profession. Yet, the State Bar of Georgia dismissed the grievance outright. If that low standard is what the Georgia Bar requires of its attorneys, then why should the public expect anything more?

Investigating further, we noticed that the State Bar of Georgia regulations require "[t]hose grievances which appear to allege any violation of . . . State Bar Rules shall be forwarded to the Investigative Panel or a subcommittee of the Investigative Panel according to Rule 4-204.1." Since such an investigation is mandatory, the only reasonable conclusion that we can draw from Mr. Hewett's dismissal of the grievance is:
(a) withholding settlement offers from clients is not a violation of the State Bar Rules; and
(b) representing multiple clients, where one has been offered a release for testimony against another client, is not a violation of the State Bar Rules.

Since the State Bar of Georgia has set such low standards, it will be interesting to see how the State Bar of Georgia will discipline other attorneys that engage in similar behavior without exposing itself to allegations of disparate treatment. And, any disparate treatment will be especially problematic if it falls along racial boundaries.

In follow-up stories, we will report on the specifics of this grievance.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON NEWS: Traton Marketing Blitz

2010-10-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

In a recent effort to attract more publicity, Traton News has established some more sites that display the titles of all of its articles. These sites include:

Traton

Traton Ratings

Traton Reviews

Traton Homes and Neighborhoods

Traton Homes Sucks

Traton Documents

and

Traton Sucks

With the addition of these sites, it is likely that more readers will be attracted to the articles posted by Traton News.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON NEWS: The New Face of Traton News is on Facebook

2010-10-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Because of the popularity of Traton News, we have created a new face. Specifically, the new face for Traton News is on facebook!

Traton News on Facebook.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON NEWS: Banana Republic Offers Flat-Rate Shipping for All Orders

2010-10-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

As seen from the advertisement on this delivery confirmation, Banana Republic now offers free flat-rate shipping of $7.00 on all of its orders. However, a close review of the confirmation shows that the shipping is free for large orders.

With Christmas being only two (2) months away, consumers may wish to take advantage of this shipping deal while it lasts.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: John Wieland Tops while Traton Homes Fails

2010-10-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

In the latest 2010 J.D. Power & Associates New Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Survey, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods took top honors for highest customer satisfaction. Following closely was Ryland Homes.

Conspicuously absent from the list was Traton Homes. This now marks back-to-back consecutive years in which Traton Homes has failed to even make the J.D. Power list for customer satisfaction.

A quick review of comments about Traton Homes shows that customer service at Traton Homes has been steadily declining.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Recent Communications between CBS and Milburn Poston Suggest More Issues at Creekstone by Traton Homes

2010-08-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

In a recent article, Traton News reported that there may be issues relating to the bio-retention pond at Creekstone Manor by Traton Homes. A recent email message between Community Bank of the South (CBS) and Milburn Poston, an officer and one of the founders of Traton Homes, suggests that there may be other issues with Creekstone Manor. The email message cryptically recites, in its entirety:

I haven’t heard back from Alan Bowling as of yet. Milburn mentioned to me today about some other issue at Creekstone? Just following up.

As of now, those details have not yet emerged.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Bio-Retention Pond Issue at Creekstone Manor

2010-08-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

A recent email message from an employee of Community Bank of the South (CBS) reveals an issue with the bio-retention pond associated with Creekstone Manor (a development b Traton Homes). The details of a meeting between CBS and Keith Adams of the City of Roswell are unclear.

It has also been noted that residents at Creestone have been calling CBS with a good number of questions. As of this publication, it is unclear whether those questions are related in any way to the bio-retention pond issue.

Reporting for Traton News

Morley Moore

TRATON HOMES: Lakefield Manor Swimming Pool is a Large Toilet Bowl

2010-04-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

The true craftsmanship and design skills of Traton Homes, the developer and builder of the homes in Lakefield Manor subdivision in Cobb County, Georgia, is exhibited via its swimming pool design. The satellite picture of the swimming pool shows that it is simply an oversize toilet bowl.

When asked about this peculiar design, one individual commented:

It doesn't surprise me that Traton Homes designed its swimming pool to look like a toilet bowl. I've heard some horror stories about how Traton Homes has treated some of its customers, and it seems as if the way that Traton Homes built the swimming pool is reflective of how Traton Homes treated its customers - pretty sh*tty.

An Internet search on customer satisfaction with Traton Homes also reveals that the toilet bowl may be an apt symbol.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Traton Homes Disrupts Yet Another Home Owner's Life

2010-02-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

Traton News previously reported on how Traton Homes ranked well below average in a survey by J.D. Powers and Associates. In that article, a former homeowner noted high levels of dissatisfaction with Traton Homes.

According to an anonymous source, yet another homeowner is experiencing trouble with their home, which was built by Traton Homes. Apparently, due to some blunder by Traton Homes, Sean and Sara Yanes has had so much trouble with their home that they were forced to move out of the home, incurring costs and experiencing misery due to the problems caused by Traton Homes.

Rick Foster, who represents Traton Homes with reference to the Yanes family ordeal, is the same individual that was responsible for the debacle between Traton Homes and Mr. Chris Moses, which resulted in a bitter lawsuit against Traton Homes. The following email message from Ms. Yanes (including all typographical errors) conveys the frustration that the Yanes family is experiencing with Traton Homes.

Subject: Accomadations
From: sarayanes [sarayanes@bellsouth.net]
Date: 2/20/2010 9:54 AM

Good morning Rick -

In light of our being moved, again, out of this room because of prior reservations, we will be finding a different hotel to move into. We have to vacate tomorrow. I will let you know where to move the account information as soon as possible.

Rick, we're wearing out. My children are crying daily, saying they miss our cats, their friends, and their bedrooms. What are you doing to make sure that Traton Homes, which you are a representative for, will "do the right thing"? We haven't moved forward and must be doing so to solve the severe damage that your company is liable for. This was a house that your company built, but it was our home, and we want it to be so again.

Thank you for making sure that you are going to do "the right thing."

Sara

According to our sources, as of 2010 January 24, the Yanes have spent $605.52 in hotel expenses, lodging for their animals, food, and other items related to their displacement from their home.

When asked about the Yanes' ordeal, one source commented:

Knowing what I know about Traton Homes, and their penchant for unreasonableness, my prediction is that the Yanes will have a long and hard road ahead of them.

Stay tuned as Traton News keeps you updated on the saga between Traton Homes and the Yanes family.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore

TRATON HOMES: Bowen Family Homes Wins Four (4) OBIE Awards

2009-12-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Bowen Family Homes was awarded four (4) OBIE Awards during the awards gala, which was held at the Cobb Galleria on 2009 November 7. The OBIE Awards are the highest honor given for the Atlanta housing industry. Thus, the fact that Bowen Family Homes took four (4) of the coveted awards speaks volumes.

Not surprisingly, absent from the 2009 OBIE Awards list was Traton Homes.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Heron Bay Golf & Country Club Receives Nine (9) OBIE Awards

2009-12-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

Heron Bay Golf & Country Club received 9 OBIE awards at the 2009 Awards Gala. The Atlanta Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association hosts the OBIE Awards Gala each year, honoring the best in the real estate industry. The OBIE awards are the highest honor given for the Atlanta housing industry. Each year builders, remodelers, and marketers submit nominations with the hope of taking home a Gold OBIE.

The developers of Heron Bay include names like D.R. Horton, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and Brayson Homes.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON NEWS: Traton Suspected of Felony

2009-12-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

According to news sources in Bellmead, Texas, police have charged a man with burglary.

Officers responded to a burglary in progress and, upon arrival, found Traton Burgess hiding in the bushes a few houses from where the burglary took place. Traton was arrested and charged.

As of Saturday, December 12, 2009, Traton remained in the McLennan County Jail and his bond has not been set yet.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram

TRATON ENTERTAINMENT: Charming Vocal Group Releases its Newest CD - KnightSong: Twentig

2009-10-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

A charming little a cappella group called KnightSong recently released its latest CD with the title Twentig, to celebrate their twentieth year (Twentig being olde English for "twenty"). For the most part, the CD includes sacred songs and madrigals. With intricate exchanges between the many parts, the songs on the CD are a delight to listeners.

Knightsong started with a group of friends who have been singing madrigals since 1984. Pat Buonodono, who currently leads the group and who is an attorney by trade, states that her love of music stems from the fact that music has an immense emotional impact on people. Being a part of KnightSong gives the singers an opportunity to be something larger than just the music.

According to their website:

KnightSong performs year-round for public and private gatherings. The group also performs regularly at charitable events; in the past they have appeared on behalf of organizations such as Aid Atlanta, The Atlanta Food Bank, Scottish Rite Hospital and the Georgia Justice Project. The ensemble performed annually at the Olde English Festival in Atlanta from its inception until the Festival ended, and has performed for a number of years at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival and "Christmas Candlelight Nights" at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. KnightSong has been featured as one of twelve "Carolers of Christmas" on a popular Atlanta radio morning show, and a song from its Christmas CD played on Sirius radio during the Christmas season.

The singers also share a love of laughter. Insofar as all of them are fully employed apart from KnightSong, it seems apparent that their rehearsals and dedication to music comes from their enjoyment of the craft.

KnightSong's other CDs are available on CDBaby.com, and are sure to be a delight to all listeners.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Trademark Showdown between North Face and South Butt

2009-09-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

In yet another showdown between a large corporation and an individual, North Face has threatened 18-year-old Jimmy Winkelmann of St. Louis to stop selling his "South Butt" product.

Jimmy Winkelmann graciously thanked the North Face for all of the publicity that they generated, thereby increasing South Butt's visibility in the market.

As previously reported by Traton News, once again the corporate bullying tactics resulted in harm to the North Face, rather than dissuading Jimmy Winkelmann from selling his South Butt product.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON UPDATE: Action of Traton Homes' Officer Bolsters Appearance of Non-Payment of Real-Estate Agent Commissions

2009-08-27T13:54:00.001-07:00

Recently, it has come to our attention that Mr. Dale Bercher, an officer for Traton Homes, has visited our site and read our post "Procedures at Traton Homes may Deprive Real-Estate Agents of Commission." In that post, we invited those at Traton Homes to provide information on whether or not the real-estate agent was properly compensated.

It is odd that Mr. Bercher, while visiting the site and reading this post, has failed to leave any indication as to whether or not the real-estate agent was properly compensated for her efforts. Specifically, Mr. Bercher's visits include:

24th August 2009 13:18:20
TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Procedures at Traton Homes may Deprive Real-Estate Agents of Commission

24th August 2009 13:21:09
TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Procedures at Traton Homes may Deprive Real-Estate Agents of Commission

Regardless of spending time reading the post, Mr. Bercher has not indicated whether or not Traton Homes treats the real-estate agents fairly.

Had this been our company, we would have made every effort to set the record straight.

Stay tuned for any updates on whether Mr. Bercher responds, or whether he remains silent.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Procedures at Traton Homes may Deprive Real-Estate Agents of Commission

2009-08-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

A recent anonymous comment, posted in response to our report on a lawsuit in Cobb County, reveals a problem with procedures at Traton Homes, which may deprive real-estate agents of their rightful commission.

According to the comment, a real-estate agent spent a considerable amount of time and effort in directing potential buyers (Brad and Danielle Mooney) to Traton Homes. Despite these efforts, the Mooneys contacted Traton Homes directly and negotiated an agreement with Traton Homes in the absence of the real-estate agent. Consequently, the Mooneys and Traton Homes entered into a purchase agreement that left the real-estate agent without any commission.

The comment, which included a memo that appears to have been written by the real-estate agent and directed to someone at Traton Homes, redacts both the name of the agent who was involved in this incident and the name of the person at Traton Homes to which the memo is directed. For some odd reason, however, the memo does nothing to redact the names of the home buyers, Brad and Danielle Mooney, which the author of the memo implies did "not own up to the truth."

The redacted memo is reproduced in its entirety below.

DATE: August 3, 2009
TO: [NAME] and [NAME], Traton Homes
FROM: [NAME], [COMPANY] Realtors
RE: Pre-Sale Hays Farm, Brad and Danielle Mooney

[NAME] and [NAME]:

I wanted to make you both aware of events that have transpired with a Buyer client of ours from the firm, Brad and Danielle Mooney, and their new pre-sale contract in Hays Farm on, August 2, 2009.

As you know [COMPANY] Realtors is proud to highly promote Traton Homes to our buyers. The week of July 20th, 2009 Danielle and Brad Mooney called into our firm and decided they wanted us to represent them in purchasing a new home. [COMPANY], Broker, assigned the new client to me to find them a home as they were qualified and ready to purchase right away. Upon taking them out for the day on July 25, 2009 I made it a point to discuss new construction versus resale and was very quick to point out Traton as the best builder of choice in the area. I drove them by Hays Farm, Paces Farm and even told them about my own Traton home I lived in for 10 years. Additionally we drove by Sandtown Park and looked at a resale in Lakefield Manor. I emphasized the quality of the building and the outstanding value for the money.

As we were driving by Paces Farm I pointed out the community and told them about my most recent buyer I took into the neighborhood and the great floorplan and service she received. At that time Brad Mooney was still a bit apprehensive about new construction and felt resale was the best avenue for them. By the end of the day we had narrowed our search to 3 homes, all resales. For the past week, I have made follow-up calls and sent follow-up e-mails as we were to go out again for second showings.

To my great surprise I get a phone call from Danielle Mooney the afternoon of August 3, 2009 informing me that she and Brad wrote a contract yesterday in Hays Farm for a pre-sale and stated: 'you even know the plan' as it was the same one my other client purchased in Paces Farm. It appeared evident the buyers did not say they had an agent as they felt they would be getting a better deal. I think if a buyer is asked the question "do you have an agent" and think they will get an incentive by answering no, then they will never own up to the truth because they want the incentive.

I feel that I lost a buyer and a sale because I really talked up a Traton Homes only to find out if a buyer answers no to the agent question they could get money off the house or toward other incentives. I know that Traton had no idea that these were our buyers because they answered no to see if they could get a better deal and wound up getting one most likely. When all is said and done, I feel I was the procuring cause of the sale. I just felt that Traton should know what happened.

Regards,

[NAME]
Senior Real Estate Consultant
[COMPANY] Realtors

As of now, Traton News is unsure of whether this situation has been remedied and whether Traton Homes has properly credited (or will properly credit) the real-estate agent with the commission, or whether Traton Homes will simply ignore this memo and keep the profit.

By posting the original redacted memo in its entirety, we hope that our readership will provide us with input that will allow us to discover the identities of both the author of the memo and the recipient to which the memo was directed. We also invite those at Traton Homes to provide us with feedback so that we can report on whether or not the real-estate agent has been properly compensated.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Corporate Bullying Tactics Result in Abysmal "FAIL"

2009-07-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

It may be rhetorical to ask "when will corporations learn that their bullying tactics just don't work any more?"

In a prior article by Traton News, we reported on how the bullying tactics of JL Kirk & Associates resulted in a public-relations nightmare for the firm, and also how the bullying tactics of Marietta, Georgia-based Traton Homes resulted in an entire web campaign dedicated to publicly exposing the wretched behavior of Traton Homes. Paralleling those events, FAILBlog.com seems to have faced similar bullying tactics from the folks at Guinness World Records Limited, the folks that are responsible for the Guinness Book of World Records.

By way of background, FAILBlog publishes a variety of items on how human endeavors have colossally failed. One particular example, titled "Record Breaking Fail" caught the ire of the folks at Guinness. Specifically, the post published by FAILBlog was a snapshot of the Guinness Book of World Records, where Guinness' customary challenge to "break the world record," juxtaposed with the record for "the most individuals killed in a terrorist attack," produced the following "fail."

Failing to see the humor in this, the attorneys for Guinness wrote:

From: James Howell
Date: Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Subject: Copyright and Trademark Infringement
To: "icanhascheezburger+copyright@gmail.com"

Dear Sir/Madam

I represent and write on behalf of GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED ("GWRL"). GWRL is the owner of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® trademarks. The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ "star and pedestal" logo is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom and many other countries around the world.

It has come to our attention that the website at http://failblog.org/2009/07/08/record-breaking-fail/ features a screen grab from GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ website (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) featuring the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS logo without authorization or license from GWRL.

Use of the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ trademark without permission constitutes trademark infringement. Therefore we kindly ask http://failblog.org/2009/07/08/record-breaking-fail/ to respond to GWRL in writing by no later than 17.00 on Friday, July 17, 2009 to confirm the following:

· That http://failblog.org/2009/07/08/record-breaking-fail/ has removed all GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ trademarked material.

If GWRL does not hear from http://failblog.org/2009/07/08/record-breaking-fail/ by 17.00 GMT on Friday 17, July 2009 please be advised that GWRL shall take whatever action is necessary to protect the reputation, trade marks and other intellectual property of GWRL.

Yours faithfully

James Howell
Legal and Business Affairs
Guinness World Records

184-192 Drummond Street, London, NW1 3HP

T: +44 (0)20 7891 4599
F: +44 (0)20 7891 4501
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com

The contents of this e-mail from Guinness World Records Limited are confidential and intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy or further distribute this e-mail, and delete this message from your computer system. Guinness World Records Limited, Registered in England No; 541295, Registered Office: 17 Hanover Square London W1S 1HU United Kingdom.

That email also included the attorney's signature:

Rather than defend a potentially-costly lawsuit, FAILBlog promptly removed the post. However, the owners of FAILBlog, in customary fashion, exercised their First Amendment rights and responded to Guinness as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thanks for writing us an email regarding the "Record Breaking Fail". Unfortunately, douchebaggy cyber-bullying emails will only bring upon you more shame on your house. I am also resisting the urge to write this email in ALL CAPS.

I believe it is the duty of FAIL Blog(TM) to call out organizations when they encourage the public to do such things as "Break the record" for the "Most Individuals Killed In A Terrorist Act". We firmly believe that our publication of your fail is protected under the concepts of fair use, commentary and non-trademark use. Please RTFM and we welcome you to teh interwebs.

Since we at FAIL Blog(TM) don’t have a legal defense department, we have complied with your request to remove the trademarked term and logo from the original image. We have used the "naughty bits filter" on the image to secure your naughty, naughty, trademark assertions. However, we have posted your email so that our audience can see why we had to remove the name of the failer from the image. I hope that this is the outcome you have expected as now NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW THAT GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED HAS FAILED.

The full legal response can be read here: icanhaz.com/legalresponse

Cheers,
FAIL Blog

P.S.: This is what we think of your letter.

When asked about whether Guinness could legitimately bring an action against FAILBlog, Sam Han, a law professor at the University of Dayton School of Law who specializes in intellectual property issues, stated:

Without a doubt, FAILBlog's post is protected by the First Amendment. It is a classic example of fair use. I just don't understand why Guinness would want to bring attention to something like this, especially since the problem is now compounded by the added publicity from FAILBlog and others.

Indeed, it appears that the letter, which threatened legal action, was a colossal failure, worthy as an entry in FAILBlog.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton Homes Loses Opportunity to Buy Valuable Domain Name

2009-06-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Traton News has, in a previous article, reported on how various companies are defensively registering domain names in an effort to prevent others from creating negative publicity for the company. As a follow-up article, Traton News also reported on how Traton Homes had lost its opportunity to register valuable domain names and had, instead, registered a host of useless domain names.

Recently, two domain names that had become a plague to Traton Homes had expired. Specifically, both IHateTraton.com and TratonSucks.com expired on March 29, 2009. While IHateTraton.com remains unregistered, the other domain, TratonSucks.com, was almost instantly picked up by a new owner.

Traton News contacted the previous owner of these sites, Mr. Christopher Moses, about why he let such valuable domain names expire. Specifically, TratonSucks.com was always a top-10 search result for any search engine, such as google, yahoo, msn, or ask.com. In other words, for anyone that searched for "Traton," not only would the search results show the site for Traton Homes, but it would always display TratonSucks.com in the top-5 hits.

Mr. Moses responded that he had purchased the domain names due to a conflict that he had with Traton Homes quite some time ago, but now that they had buried the proverbial hatchet, he no longer had any need for those sites. Additionally, he simply became tired of paying an annual fee to keep the sites registered. "Essentially, I was maintaining a defensive registration for another entity," stated Moses. Continuing, he stated:

No matter how you look at this, it made no sense for me to keep spending money to keep TratonSucks.com and IHateTraton.com alive when it would simply sit there with no content, especially since I have nothing to do with Traton Homes any more. So, I let the domain registrations lapse for those two domain names.

When asked if he had anything else to say, Moses indicated that he had no additional comment, either good or bad, about Traton Homes.

Insofar as TratonSucks.com had been the bane of Traton Homes' existence, we at Traton News are surprised that Traton Homes lost yet another opportunity to register a valuable domain name. While IHateTraton.com remains unregistered, it may not remain that way for long.

In the mean time, we at Traton News will keep our eyes on TratonSucks.com to see what the new owner plans to do with that site.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton Homes Shows Steady Decline Over Past Three Years

2009-05-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

Builder Magazine Online recently released its 2008 Builder 100 list. According to the list, D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, Centex Corp., Lennar Homes, and KB Home top the list.

As we have done in the past, we reviewed the performance of Traton Homes over the past 3 years to see how they performed. According to BuilderOnline, Traton Homes' closings were down by 37% and Traton Homes' revenue declined by 43%, as compared to its 2007 numbers. Tracing back to the 2007 numbers, Traton Homes declined 27% and 23% in closings and revenue, respectively, from its 2006 numbers.

A simple calculation shows that the decline of Traton Homes over the past three years is an incredible 54% for closings and an even-more-astonishing 56% for revenue.

Part of the reason for the decline may be the economic woes that every home builder faces. However, there are some who speculate that woefully deficient customer service by Traton Homes has resulted in negative impressions of Traton Homes, which has spread through various Internet sites, such as Traton Sucks, webgripesites.com, and Exposing New Home Builders.

For example, the comment from webgripesites.com shows Traton Homes documents as reciting "I was surprised to learn how much Traton truly did not care about their customers!"

Given the economic crisis facing home builders, Traton Homes has a long way to go to improve its image with customers.

Reporting for Traton News,

Morley Moore.

TRATON HOMES: Traton Homes Negatively Affected by Economy

2009-04-06T05:11:00.001-07:00

Recent news indicates that Traton Homes has been negatively impacted by the down-turn in the economy.

According to the article, Traton Homes has been forced to significantly reduce its staff. In fact, it appears that over the past two years Traton Homes has reduced its staff by almost 25% due to the negative impact that market forces have had on the company.

Scrutinizing "literally every dollar," the home builder has had to change some of its business practices to adapt to the new market. Clif Poston (Executive Vice President, 38) and Chris Poston (Senior Vice President, 34), who have taken over the operation of the company from Bill Poston and Milburn Poston (brothers who co-founded the company) have focused on the metro-Atlanta area.

When asked about the operation of Traton Homes and how the economy has affected the home builder, one individual indicated that Traton Homes' woes may be due more to horrible customer service than the economy. Citing to a now-removed gripe site, tratonsucks.com, the individual notes the struggle of one home-owner, Chris Moses, in his battle against Traton Homes. "When you hear about what they did to this guy, it really is atrocious," notes the individual, who has asked to remain anonymous.

While all of the contents of tratonsucks.com has been removed, a search of the archives reveals some of the cached contents that reveal the company's negative attitudes toward their own customers in an effort to maximize the company's profits.

In difficult economic times, such as this, scrutinizing "literally every dollar" will only go so far if the customer service is woefully deficient.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Privacy Concerns on Social Networking Sites - Part II

2009-03-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, we noted some of the information that was publicly available about Dale Bercher, an officer for Traton Homes. In closely examining his contacts, it was no surprise to see that Bercher's facebook profile links Chris Poston (another officer for Traton Homes) as a friend (or contact). Since Poston is the son of the founder (Bill Poston), we wondered whether his list of contacts would connect to the top brass of the company. Here is the list that we derived from the publicly available information.

Chris Poston

Larry Adkins
Atlanta, GA

Joanna Ford Alexander
Atlanta, GA

Shelli Strother Allen

Mary Kent Anderson
Atlanta, GA

Charles Andros
Bloomberg
Atlanta, GA

Julie Cantrell Austin
Atlanta, GA

Krista Fleming Baughan
Atlanta, GA

Dale Bercher
Atlanta, GA

Jenny Eberbaugh Berg
Atlanta, GA

Katie Wilson Berry

Vidal Bing
Jacksonville, FL

Shannon Holsomback Bohannon
Atlanta, GA

Stuart Bracey

David Brackett
Nashville, TN

Robyn Adams Brennaman
Atlanta, GA
GA Southern Alum '03

Ryan Breshears
Denver, CO
UGA Alum

Kerri Briant
Atlanta, GA

Carter Brown
Atlanta, GA

Sheri Turner Bruce

Ashley Selph Brumby
Atlanta, GA

John Bullington
Atlanta, GA

Sarah Meyer Bullington
Atlanta, GA

Debbie Butler
Atlanta, GA

Patti Ingram Camp
Atlanta, GA

Stephanie Donaldson Carden
Atlanta, GA

Cecily Carlay Hamilton
Atlanta, GA

Leigh Anne Cash Cooney
Atlanta, GA

Racheal Chance
Liberty
Atlanta, GA

Stuart Cheatham

Aric Chisum
Atlanta, GA

Dan Clark
Atlanta, GA

Geoff Clark
Atlanta, GA

Laurie Miller Clark
Coca-Cola
Atlanta, GA

Eric Clayton
Atlanta, GA

Nora Stewart Cobb
Nashville, TN

Shannon Simpson Cobb

Gavin Cole
Dallas / Fort Worth, TX

Phyllis Gingrey Collins

Stacey Liles Corn

Carolyn Haverly Corr

Christopher Corr
Richmond, VA

Jameka Crenshaw
Atlanta, GA

Ginger Cuttino
Charleston, SC

George Darden
Atlanta, GA
UGA Alum

Sidney McDougald David

Emily Dean
Atlanta, GA

Monique Deely
Atlanta, GA

Darius Dunson
Atlanta, GA

Holly Hunter Durham
Los Angeles, CA

Emily Buffington Embry
Atlanta, GA

Becky Dunning Engram
Atlanta, GA

Rob Estes
Atlanta, GA

Cissy Rickman Fleming
Memphis, TN

Jason Ford
Atlanta, GA

Richard Ford
Atlanta, GA

Jennifer Hess Foster
Atlanta, GA

Eric Gaines

Laura Billings Gardner
Atlanta, GA

Katie Snelson Gaudette
Atlanta, GA

Meredith Garrett Gay
Atlanta, GA

Beth Strother Gilland

Beth Briscoe Graham
Atlanta, GA

Nicole Capes Graham
Atlanta, GA

Erica Khan Graus
Atlanta, GA

Michael Greene
Atlanta, GA

Shannon Dorsey Grundmeyer
Atlanta, GA

Jason Hammer
Atlanta, GA

Glenn Harvin
Clemson Alum '03

Kelly King Hastings

Tracey Willoughby Howard
Atlanta, GA

Dana Garrett Huggins

Jeffrey Humphries
Atlanta, GA

John Hunter
Jacksonville, FL

Beth Clotfelter Hunter
Columbia, SC

Frasure Hunter
Atlanta, GA

Garrett Phillips Hunter

Jaillene Erickson Hunter
Atlanta, GA

Missy Hunter
Atlanta, GA
Kennesaw Grad Student '08

Jennifer Ingram
Atlanta, GA

Vanessa D. James
Atlanta, GA

Paula Jobson
New York, NY
Turner Broadcasting
CNN

Amy Ellerbee Johnson
Atlanta, GA

Brooke Jones
Atlanta, GA

Lindy Simpson Jones
Atlanta, GA

Malcolm Jones
Los Angeles, CA

Betsy Storey Kelley
Atlanta, GA

Elizabeth Kelley
Atlanta, GA
Auburn Alum '00

Cam Kersey
Atlanta, GA

Katie King

Bill King
Atlanta, GA

Emmy King

Cliff Kirbo
Southern Georgia, GA

Randy Kirk
Atlanta, GA
Auburn Alum

Clay Elliott Kirkland
UGA Alum '00
Athens, GA

Sean Kirkland
Atlanta, GA

Lori Simonton Kwilecki
Atlanta, GA

Allan Kyburz
Auburn Alum '05
Atlanta, GA

Melanie Loper Lauder
Atlanta, GA

Kelley Townson Lee
Atlanta, GA

Steve Lee
Atlanta, GA

Michael Leidel
Atlanta, GA

Lori Logan Leonard
Savannah, GA

Sterling Lester

Jon Lewis
Atlanta, GA

Curtiss Lindsey

Ryan F Lingold
Allentown, PA

Christina Waldrep Lowry
Atlanta, GA

Jennifer Williams Luongo
Daytona Beach, FL
Mary Kay

Sally Tanner Macaulay
Atlanta, GA

Gannon Gingrey Manning
Atlanta, GA

Shane Martin
Atlanta, GA

Tasha Mathis
Atlanta, GA

Doug Matthews

Kathryn Platt Mayfield

Kevin F. McCann
Dallas / Fort Worth, TX

Todd McCann
Nashville, TN

Cynthia Yen McIntyre
Chicago, IL
CareerBuilder.com
Northwestern Grad Student '09

Laura Lea McKinney
Atlanta, GA

Peggy Duncan McNeel
Atlanta, GA

Haley Hunter Meaders
Atlanta, GA

Rachel Keyes Michel
France

Matthew Thomas Montz
Southern Company
Birmingham, AL

Jay Moore
Atlanta, GA

Christie Barnes Morris
Atlanta, GA

Drew Morris
Atlanta, GA

Tyler Morris

Tim Murphy

Steve Newton

Gabrielle Nichols
Atlanta, GA

Bryan Nix
Atlanta, GA

Mike Nix
Ann Arbor, MI

Anna King Norris

Jamie Tumlin Patrick
UGA Alum '02
Atlanta, GA

Allison McPherson Penuel
Atlanta, GA

Wendy Sertel Pharr
Chattanooga, TN

Marti Glenn Phillips
Charleston, SC

Angela Poston
Atlanta, GA

Melissa Holland Poston
Atlanta, GA

Joseph Pressley
Atlanta, GA

Lee Alison Herndon Rable
Atlanta, GA

Meghan Burruss Respess
Atlanta, GA

Thomas Richardson
Nashville, TN

Casey Harris Riddle

Becca Romans

Antonio Rosser
Atlanta, GA

Emily Hope Ryals
Pratt '09
Atlanta, GA

Danny Ryan
Atlanta, GA

Natalie Smith Sams
Athens, GA

Catherine Milligan Sanders

Elizabeth Sanders

Allison Schnatmeier
Atlanta, GA

Anne Wiley Sellis
Houston, TX

Charles Shepard
Jackson, MS
UGA Alum '02

Pashia Fooster Shorter
Atlanta, GA

Victoria Slider Simitses
Atlanta, GA

Jacob Sims
USF

Whitney Slider
Athens, GA

Parker Smathers

Emilie Smith
UGA Alum '04
Atlanta, GA

Richard Smith
Macon / Warner Robins, GA

MaryAnsley Southerland
Atlanta, GA

Leslie McCann Stalcup
Atlanta, GA

Emmy King Staton
Atlanta, GA

Ami Pitts Stephens

Stephanie Sonnenfeld Stinn
Atlanta, GA

Kristi Elsberry Storey
Atlanta, GA

Sam Storey
Atlanta, GA

Ann Dunaway Teh
Atlanta, GA

Brad Thomas
UGA Alum '98
Panama City, FL

Ron Bam Thomas
Washington, DC

Jud Thompson
Atlanta, GA

Patrick Thompson
Atlanta, GA
Auburn Alum '94

Shay O'Dell Torbert
Southern Georgia, GA

Miki Thompson Townsend
Atlanta, GA

Amanda Dark Tucker

Brandi Crowe Tuggle
Atlanta, GA

Ty Tumlin
Ole Miss Alum '01
Atlanta, GA

Katharine Haverly Turner

Brandon Underwood
Atlanta, GA

Jason Van Note
Atlanta, GA

Mandy Waldrep
New York, NY

David Walker
Atlanta, GA

Dorothy T Walker
Atlanta, GA

Johnny Walker
Atlanta, GA

Walter Walls
Sarasota, FL

Kellie Ward
Kennesaw '09

Cameron Watson
Atlanta, GA

Travis Watson

Kip Watters
Atlanta, GA

Rachel Weber
Oregon Grad Student
Washington Alum '08
Seattle, WA

Elizabeth Rutland Weigle

Daniel White
Atlanta, GA
UGA Alum '01

Davis White
Athens, GA

Jeff White
Atlanta, GA

Mica Williams

Brad Willoughby

Brian Wilson
UNC Grad Student '10
Deloitte
Presbyterian Alum
Washington, DC

Leigh Ann Slappey Worden

While several Postons are listed (presumably family members), we were unable to find the founders' profiles for Bill Poston and Milburn Poston.

This limited example of "facebook stalking" (a term that has been coined by netizens) shows how one can determine information about individuals from publicly available sources. This type of unconventional investigative technique has been used by employers in conducting background checks on their potential employees, or to gather other potentially damaging information that may be detrimental to the company.

Of course, the lesson to be learned is this: one should be cautious with information that one does not want to make public. Especially since dissemination of electronic information is now almost instantaneous.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Privacy Concerns on Social Networking Sites - Part I

2009-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Social networking sites, such as myspace.com and facebook.com, have a large following. For the most part, the users of facebook and myspace are given the option to keep certain information from prying eyes. However, the privacy controls are rather cumbersome to use. In fact, it almost seems as if these social networking sites make it difficult (if not almost impossible) for the users to designate their profiles as private.

Specifically, we examine facebook to see what information is available to those that are on facebook. While much of the information may be benign, one never knows what others consider to be private, and what others consider to be publishable to the world.

Recently, the google web-crawlers found the facebook profiles for several big names in the real-estate industry. We provide two of them here, along with some of the publicly-available information that was available, solely from their facebook profiles. In fact, the information was publicly available to everyone on facebook, irrespective of whether or not the visitor or user had an account on facebook.

Dale Bercher

Mr. Bercher is the chief operating officer for Traton Homes. According to the information on facebook, his friends (or contacts that he has chosen to designate as "friends") include:

Joey Achacoso
Austin, TX

Suna Adam
Baton Rouge, LA

Hal Bahlinger
Baton Rouge, LA

Regan Bercher
Atlanta, GA

Rebecca Bryant
Atlanta, GA

Bernie Calvaruso
Baton Rouge, LA

Christina Strickland Campbell
Atlanta, GA

Heidi Hartvigsen Carr
Atlanta, GA

Laura Chagnon
Atlanta, GA

Matthew Clark

Maurice J. Coleman
Raleigh / Durham, NC

Louis Colletti
Chicago, IL

Valerie Colletti
Roosevelt '09

Victoria Colletti
E. Illinois Alum '06

Lisa Cavalier Colomb
Atlanta, GA

Scott Colomb

Rose Plyler Daigle

Floyd DesOrmeaux
LSU
Baton Rouge, LA

Daniel Dupont
Los Angeles, CA

Stasia Eb
Colin Anthony Endres-bercher

Rory Endres-Bercher
Harrison High School '07
Michigan '11

Brock Fredette
Atlanta, GA

Kelly Newsome Fredette
Atlanta, GA

Chuck Gabriel
New Orleans, LA

Stewart Gordon
LSU

Duane Guidry
Dallas / Fort Worth, TX

Shana Boyd Hackworth
Atlanta, GA

Mark Herman

Karen Hansen Hershberger
Atlanta, GA

Kathleen Hess
Boston, MA

Steve Hess
Boston, MA
BEA Systems

Lisa Clausen Hill
Atlanta, GA

David Thomas Kotek
Chicago, IL

Tom Kotek
Chicago, IL

Christina Waldrep Lowry
Atlanta, GA

Audrey Loyd
Atlanta, GA

Melanie Bartlett Marsh
Atlanta, GA

Kristy Colomb McGovern
Baton Rouge, LA

April Morris
Atlanta, GA

Phil Muscarello
Baton Rouge, LA

Angie Page
Atlanta, GA

Stephen Parker

Henry Perkins
Murphy High School '09
Mobile, AL

Lucy Perkins
Murphy High School '10
Mobile, AL

Tracy Lisska Peterson
Atlanta, GA

David R Pfeiffer
Alexandria, LA

Chris Poston

Thomas Prochaska
Blessed Trinity Catholic High School

Paul Prusinski
Chicago, IL

Steven Ragusa
Atlanta, GA

Danny Ranzino

Tracy Reece
RE/MAX International
Atlanta, GA

Angi Sago

Paul Schouest
Atlanta, GA

Nick Simino
Baton Rouge, LA

Laura Vaughan

Following these links, one can readily discern the company that Mr. Bercher keeps, as well as the social circles with which Mr. Bercher associates.

While much of this information may not be of much relevance to many folks, Traton News speculates that there may be some on Mr. Bercher's list that would rather remain anonymous, or at least not have their associations broadcast to the world.

This example highlights some of the privacy concerns that abound with social networking sites.

In our follow-up to this article, we examine another publicly-available profile, namely that of Chris Poston, who is an officer of Traton Homes, and also the son of Bill Poston (a founder of Traton Homes).

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

TRATON HOMES: Lakefield Manor Home Sells for 1/6 of Original Price

2009-03-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

Charles M. Calhoun and Tammy B. Calhoun lived at 2566 Lakefield Way in Marietta, Georgia. Mr. Calhoun is a police officer and Tammy, his wife, is a real-estate agent. In fact, Tammy is a real estate agent for Traton Homes, and was involved in several of the sales of the Lakefield Manor subdivision. For some odd reason, the Calhouns sold their home in May of 2008 for almost 1/6 of the original purchase price.

In 2003, the home was purchased by the Calhouns for $283,300. Peculiarly, that same home was sold in 2008 for a pithy $50,000. What is even more odd about the transaction is that the home was sold (so it seems) to the Calhouns. Yes, you heard that right, the home owners sold the home to themselves for 1/6 of the original purchase price.

While we at Traton News are not sure why the Calhouns sold the home to themselves, one thing that is certain is that the apparent fire sale of the Calhoun home effectively reduced the home values for all of homes in the Lakefield Manor subdivision.

When asked about this odd transaction, one individual simply commented:

It baffles me why Tammy would sell her own home, in her own subdivision, for such a rock-bottom price. If I were one of the homeowners in Lakefield Manor, especially one that used Tammy Calhoun as a real-estate agent, then I would feel somewhat betrayed. Follow if you will. I buy a home in a subdivision that Tammy Calhoun recommended, and hope that the home will appreciate in value. And then I find out that the Calhouns torpedo the home prices in Lakefield Manor by selling their own home for 1/6 of the original purchase price. Of course, it may be understandable if it were a foreclosure sale in which the Calhouns lost their home. Then, I would have some sympathy for them. But, they sold it to themselves for a measly $50,000. All that does is depreciate the value of the homes in the neighborhood, since the "comps" are now set at a low bar.

While we at Traton News are still investigating the facts, we are currently hard-pressed to find a reasonable explanation for this sale.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON HOMES: Traton Homes Recognized as Cheaper Homes by the Atlanta Journal Constitution

2009-01-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

A recent article by the Atlanta Journal Constitution ("AJC") noted that a metro-Atlanta-based developer, Traton Homes, is responsible for building cheaper homes that lower property values.

In the saga of Hays Farm, located in Cobb County, Georgia, Traton bought a number of foreclosed lots and began building cheap homes, thereby lowering the property value of the entire subdivision. The original residents were outraged due to Traton Homes' devaluing of the subdivision's property. However, according to the AJC, the residents of Hays Farm had little-to-no recourse against the new developer.

Two individuals, one in the legal profession and one in real estate, both indicated that the residents could have done something about the property, had they thought about the problem sufficiently. When asked about the potential solution, the attorney stated as follows:

Every homeowner in that subdivision is a member of the homeowners' association, or HOA. And, I bet that the subdivision covenants expressly recite that the purpose of the covenants is to protect the value of the homes and keep them from depreciating in value. Of course, the HOA would still be managed by the developer until the subdivision is completed. However, the officers of the HOA, who are likely the same as the developer, have a fiduciary obligation to look out for the best interest of the homeowners.

So, if all of the original homeowners went to the HOA and asked the HOA to amend its covenants to require all homes to be of a certain quality, then it is possible that the improved quality would translate into an increased home value. In other words, it would have been easy to set structural guidelines to prevent Traton Homes from building cheap homes.

The officers of the HOA would not have to amend the covenants at all, if they did not wish to amend them. However, if the HOA did not amend the covenants to prevent the depreciation of the current homes, then there would be a strong argument from the original homeowners that the officers were not acting in the best interest of the homeowners and therefore breached their fiduciary duty to the homeowners.

What is nice about this approach is that the officers themselves would be personally liable for the breach. So, in essence, the officers would need to "pick their own poison." On one hand, the they would need to "fix" the covenant so that better homes were built, thereby protecting the home value in that subdivision. On the other hand, they could be sued for breaching their fiduciary obligation to the homeowners, thereby requiring them to pay for the depreciated home value out of your own pockets. Weighing the greed of a developer against the plight of helpless homeowners makes for a great story in front of a jury.

Of course, being an attorney, I have to include the disclaimer that this approach may not have worked. But, it would have been a lot better than seeing my home depreciate in value to the point that the loss is unrecoverable.

When asked about this approach, another individual, speaking on conditions of anonymity, stated:

It may not be too late to take that approach at Hays Farm. The original homeowners that have the expensive homes have a great incentive to prevent additional cheap homes from being built, since those additional cheap homes would further depreciate the value of the neighborhood.

Even the new homeowners have an incentive to make Traton Homes build more expensive homes. If more expensive homes are built, then the owners of the cheap homes will see a corresponding increase in their own property values. It's in the best interest of all of the current homeowners. The only downside would be on the developer, who would be faced with the Hobson's choice of spending more money on building expensive homes, or being faced with a potential lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty.

In fact, even for Traton Homes, it may not be a bad thing, since they likely have a greater profit margin on more expensive homes.

Whether the homeowners of Hays Farm will let bygones be bygones, or whether they will re-open old wounds by considering this option is still up in the air.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore Ingram

TRATON HUMOR: Georgia Court of Appeals Judges Find Their True Calling in Life

2008-12-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

It appears that the three judges, from the Georgia Court of Appeals, who wrote the following opinion have found their new calling in life.

OPINION Moses v Traton

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business Christianity moses apocrypha

Having read their opinion (above) and also seen their dancing skills (as shown in the video below), one wonders if these judges are more suited for dancing than they are for the judiciary.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The opinion effectively abrogates Georgia statutes dealing with trespass, as briefed by appellant in appellant's Petition for Certiorari to the Georgia Supreme Court.

MOSES Petition for Writ of Certiorari FINAL

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law war literature

We hope that you enjoy these dancing elves, since they seem to be showing off their true talents through dance, rather than through their intellectual acumen, their writing skills, or their sense of justice.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram.

TRATON HOMES: Traton Homes Turns Up a Big Zero at the 2008 OBIE Awards

2008-11-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

Unlike Bowen Family Homes, which garnered quite a few honors at the 28th Annual OBIE Awards for 2008, Traton Homes walked away with no recognitions.

The fact that Traton Homes received no honors is not surprising, in view of some reports that Traton Homes provides deficient customer service.

As compared to Traton Homes, Traton News is not aware of any complaints relating to Bowen Family Homes' customer service. Not surprisingly, Bowen took high honors at this year's OBIE Awards.

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram

TRATON HOMES: Bowen Family Homes Wins Four Gold and Two Silver OBIE Awards

2008-11-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

During the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association’s 28th Annual OBIE Awards Saturday, November 8, 2008, Bowen Family Homes won four Gold OBIE Awards and two Silver OBIE Awards.

Bowen's "Dollars for Dreams" home event received two Gold and one Silver OBIE Awards. The Bowen sales and marketing team received one Gold, and two of Bowen Family Homes' communities took Gold OBIE Awards for Best Building Design.

According to a press release by Bowen Family Homes:

Since 1969 the Bowen name has stood for excellence in new home construction and community development. Recognized as the 25th largest privately owned builder in the country by Builder Magazine for 2005, Bowen Family Homes is a dynamic homebuilder with operations in Georgia, Florida and Texas. The Atlanta Business Chronicle ranked Bowen Family Homes 4th among metro Atlanta builders in 2006 and 30th among Atlanta’s Top 100 Private Companies for 2006. Additionally, Builder Magazine named Bowen Family Homes the nation’s 43rd largest homebuilder in 2007. These successes have been achieved by simply offering the best new home value in all price ranges.

We extend our heartiest congratulations to Bowen Family Homes!

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton News Achieves Top Search Result on Google

2008-10-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

For the first time since the formation of the company, Traton News has hit the top of Google's search results for "traton." As shown from the printout of the search result, Traton News has displaced Traton Homes as the number one search result.

TRATON Google Search Result - Upload a Document to Scribd

Notes one of the owners of Traton News

We have spent a lot of time, energy, and financial resources to make sure that we are highly visible to the Internet audience. While we have been proud of our past performance, always landing on the front page of Google's search results, we are thrilled beyond words that we are now at the NUMBER ONE SPOT! I'm not sure how long that will last, but I'm going to bask in the moment for as long as it lasts.

As noted in an earlier article, if Traton News truly builds its stand-alone site, then it seems that it will be difficult to displace Traton News from the top spot.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton News Hits Record High Readership for August

2008-10-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

Traton News has achieved a new record of over 1000 unique visitors for the month of August, 2008. As reflected from its website statistics, courtesy of StatCounter, Traton News had 1340 page-loads and 1205 unique visitors. Of those unique visitors, 1183 of them were first-time visitors to the site.

According to the operators of Traton News, the increased web traffic is due to the owners' commitment to continually updating the readership with interesting stories and factoids.

"The owners are in the process of making the site a stand-alone site so that it will attract even more visitors and increase our readership base," notes the attorney for Traton News. "Of course, the owners will continue to keep the blog site up so that those who are already familiar with the current layout can have a choice as to which site they visit for their news. In fact, we want to be the first hit when someone searches for Traton, our trademark, on Google," notes one of the owners.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON COURT NEWS: Eleventh Circuit Effectively Abolishes Excessive Force Claims Against Police Officers (Buckley v. Haddock)

2008-09-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

In a recent unpublished decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Buckley v. Haddock, No. 07-10988 (11th Cir. 2008)), Judge Edmonson effectively abolished any claims against law-enforcement officers for the use of excessive force. The video footage of the arrest is shown below, in which the officer uses a taser at least three (3) times on Mr. Buckley, who is already handcuffed and sitting distraught on the grass beside the road. The taser shocks resulted in least sixteen (16) burn marks on Mr. Buckley's body.

Despite what the video shows, and despite the fact that the district court found that the officer used excessive force and was not entitled to qualified immunity, Judge Edmonson marshaled the facts to note that:

(a) it was night-time, on the side of a highway, with considerable passing traffic;
(b) Mr. Buckley was "resisting"; and
(c) the taser was used only after repeated warnings to Mr. Buckley.

In an effort to justify his holding, Judge Edmonson further notes that, even if he may be wrong and the force was excessive, the officer is neverthless entitled to qualified immunity. The reason being that there are no other cases similar to this one, which would give notice to the officer that his actions were improper.

In a one-paragraph concurring opinion, Chief Judge Dubina indicated that the force was excessive, but the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because of the lack of notice (i.e., other similar incidents that would have led the police officer to reasonably believe that his behavior was improper).

Judge Beverly Martin, who sat by designation as the third member of the panel, dissented. Specifically noting that Judge Edmonson's version of the facts was devoid of much of the relevant details, Judge Martin conveyed the facts as they are depicted in the video footage, above. In voicing her opinion that the officer should not be granted qualified immunity, Judge Martin quoted from a prior Eleventh Circuit case:

It would create perverse incentives indeed if a qualified immunity defense could succeed against those types of claims that have not previously arisen because the behavior alleged is so egregious that no like case is on the books.

Given the three separate opinions from the panel, Buckley appears to stand for the proposition that:

(a) repeatedly tasing a man in handcuffs, who is only passively resisting, is an excessive use of force (opinions by Dubina and Martin); and
(b) in this particular case, the officer is entitled to qualified immunity because he was never put on notice that such behavior would be unconstitutional.

If this is indeed the case, then any future conduct that is similar to the officer's conduct in this case will likely be held to be excessive use of force, and, since this particular case has already established that such force is excessive, the officer will not be able to state that he was not on notice that such force was excessive (i.e., he will not be entitled to qualified immunity in the future).

The full opinion, including the concurrence and the dissent, is reproduced in its entirety below.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore, Ingram.

Jesse Daniel BUCKLEY v. Hon. Bobby HADDOCK and Jonathan RACKARD - Upload a Document to Scribd

TRATON HOMES: Sharp Residential Receives High Ratings for the Atlanta Housing Market

2008-09-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

On an annual basis, J.D. Power and Associates surveys numerous consumers and compiles an objective benchmark on various industries and the performance of companies within those industries. As reported in an earlier article by Traton News, for the Atlanta housing market, John Wieland Homes took top honors this year. A close second in the survey was Sharp Residential, who received one of the top three numerical scores in the 2008 New-Home Customer Satisfaction Study.

According to J.D. Power, the study is based on over fifty-thousand (50,000) total responses for the metro-Atlanta counties of Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding and Walton. The measure takes into account the opinions of consumers who purchased a new home in 2007, whether the home be a single-family detached home or a single-family attached home.

In evaluating the satisfaction of the consumers, the study examines the entire home buying experience. Factors for that evaluation include customer service, sales staff, design center, price/value relationship, and a host of other factors. Other factors, such as input from the home buyer on resolution of various issues, plays a part in the final ratings.

Sharp Residential has offered exceptional homes with luxurious features in neighborhoods throughout metro Atlanta. Having been in business for almost two (2) decades, Sharp Residential has a reputation of integrity, earning to honors from the Atlanta Business Chronicle (list of the Top 25 Homebuilders since 2004) and Professional Builder magazine (top 200 on its list of the Top 400 Homebuilders in the country). Sharp Residential also ranks as one of Atlanta’s top 100 private companies.

Given the positive reviews and accolades for Sharp Residential, it is no wonder that they rate so highly in the J.D. Power survey.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON NEWS: Traton News Establishes New Dedicated Site for Homes and Neighborhoods

2008-09-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

Traton News announces today that it has created a new website that is dedicated to reporting news and stories relating to homes and neighborhoods.

The new site, aptly named "Traton Homes and Neighborhoods" seeks to report on various homes and home-builders, neighborhoods and subdivisions, fluctuations in the real-estate market, and other notes of interest in the area of real-estate.

One of the principals of Traton News notes:

We hope that the new site will attract a lot of Internet traffic. Our hope is to showcase some of the incredible homes in Atlanta, including those by John Wieland, Centex, Pulte, and a host of others. We want the home-buying consumers to be aware of what is available, and who provides superb customer service.

With such attention on the real-estate market, it seems as if such a dedicated site may be just what the home-buying public may need.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON HOMES: John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods Ranks High in 2008 J.D. Power Survey

2008-09-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

In the recently-published 2008 J.D. Power & Associates Survey for Atlanta homes, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods ranks at the top of the survey. Including this year, John Wieland has taken the top spot (or near-top spot) for the past several years.

Given the evaluation criteria, the consistency of John Wieland's performance in the J.D. Power survey speaks volumes about the customer service and work quality by John Wieland.

More information on John Wieland can be found here, and a full copy of the J.D. Power survey on Atlanta homes is reproduced below.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore & Ingram.

JD Power 2008 Atlanta Home Survey - Upload a Document to Scribd

TRATON HOMES: Traton Homes Rates Below Average for Fourth Consecutive Year

2008-09-15T02:41:00.000-07:00

For the fourth year in a row, Traton Homes shows a below-average performance for overall customer satisfaction, as shown by the 2008 J.D. Power and Associates survey on Atlanta homes. As reported in 2005, 2006, and 2007 by Traton News, Traton Homes consistently rated below average for each and every one of those years.

One reader of Traton News, in commenting on the article about how Traton Homes wasted its resources for useless domain names, noted:

This is rather funny. I always wondered what they were doing instead of making my experience better. :-)

If such a sentiment is reflective of home-buyers' experiences with Traton Homes, then it is no surprise that Traton Homes again ranks below average in the J.D. Power survey of Atlanta homes.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore & Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Analysis of Traton Homes and Gripe Domain Names

2008-06-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

In a former article, we noted that the case between Mr. Christopher Moses and Traton Corp. had settled on confidential terms.

With what we can discern from publicly-available information, we now analyze the status and future fate of Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton.

Prior to any analysis, we note that Traton News knows how difficult it is to attain a top-10 ranking on search engines, since we have spent countless hours and resources to make sure that we are visible on all major search engines. Thus, when Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton consistently appeared in the top-10 search-engine results, we had an appreciation of how much time, effort, and energy went into achieving that end result.

Since it seems that Mr. Moses can no longer post articles to Traton Sucks or I Hate Traton, it seems logical that he will simply let those domain names expire or sell them to someone else that has a use for the domain names.

We naturally presume that anyone who wishes to own Traton Sucks or I Hate Traton will be, either: (a) one of the Traton Homes entities, in a defensive effort; or (b) non-Traton-Homes entities that wish to speak out against Traton Homes.

Since Traton Homes is not the current owners of these sites, even after the settlement with Mr. Moses, we can only conclude that, either: (a) Traton Homes had no desire to own these sites; or (b) Mr. Moses refused to transfer the sites to Traton Homes.

In either event, the inevitable future seems to be that some other non-Traton-Homes entity will own the sites and start writing about Traton Homes.

From a business perspective, the two domain names "tratonsucks.com" and "ihatetraton.com" appear to be very easy-to-remember names. We speculate that their top-rankings in the search engines can be attributed to the simplicity of the domain names. Added to their simplicity, the domain names are also dot-coms, rather than a dot-net, dot-org, or dot-anything-else. Thus, even with the complete absence of any informative content, these sites still command a top-ranking on the search engines. For example, even today, when one searches for "traton" on Google, the "sucks" sites appear on the first page (today, it is 4th in rank).

At this point, it is unclear whether the domain names remain with Mr. Moses because Traton Homes simply placed no value on these domain names, or because Mr. Moses refused to transfer the domains to Traton Homes. If it is the former, then one must question the business judgment of Traton Homes, who has registered a host of useless domain names yet does nothing about a pair of domain names that detracts from their own search rankings.

To any future owners of "tratonsucks.com" and "ihatetraton.com," we prospectively convey a hearty congratulations on a pair of domain names that will result in instant notoriety and a good ranking with the search engines.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON UPDATE: Moses v. Traton Corp., et al., Settles on Undisclosed Terms

2008-06-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

In an article from January of 2008, Traton News reported on a case between Mr. Christopher Moses and Traton Corp.

Recently, we were informed that Mr. Moses has settled the case with Traton Homes. In an attempt to gather more information about the settlement, Traton News asked about the terms of the settlement between Moses and Traton Homes. In response to our request, we were informed only that the dispute was now settled, and that the settlement terms were confidential.

Since none of the parties of the settlement can disclose the settlement terms, we have attempted to gather as much information as we can from publicly-available sources in an effort to determine some of the conditions of the settlement. Here is what we could determine.

Contents of Traton Sucks Removed

As we previously reported, Mr. Moses owned and operated the sites for Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton. While those two sites are still active, it appears that all of the substantive content has been removed from those sites. In short, the sites used to tell the story of how Traton Homes terrorized the Moses family and showed bad business judgment by refusing to provide good customer service. Now, they simply display a notice that the contents of the site have been removed.

While the stories have been removed, the browse-wrap agreement on Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton still reflect that the site is owned and operated by Mr. Moses.

From this, we can deduce:
(1) one of the conditions of the settlement between Traton Homes and Mr. Moses is that Mr. Moses remove his account of Traton Homes' horrible customer service from both Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton.
(2) the conditions did not include any provisions for transferring either Traton Sucks or I Hate Traton to Traton Homes.

Confidentiality Provisions

Of course, we can naturally conclude from the settlement agreement that the conditions of settlement included a confidentiality provision, since Mr. Moses has expressly stated that he cannot share any of the settlement information with us.

Future Articles Relating to the Settlement

We did, in fact, request additional information on the settlement, but were disappointed with the response email message from Mr. J. Kevin Moore, counsel for Traton Homes. That email exchange and our plans, going forward, are the topic of a future article.

Knowing these two pieces of information, we plan to provide an analysis on the business decisions of both Mr. Moses and Traton Homes. Stay tuned for the update.

Updating for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

Traton News - Monthly Stats Report 1 Apr - 30 Apr 2008

2008-05-03T01:47:00.001-07:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

Monthly Stats Report: 1 Apr - 30 Apr 2008
Project: Traton News
URL: http://tratonnews.blogspot.com

	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total	853	510	474	36
Average	28	17	16	1

Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Tue, 1 Apr	86	63	56	7
Wed, 2 Apr	42	24	23	1
Thu, 3 Apr	82	29	29	0
Fri, 4 Apr	38	13	10	3
Sat, 5 Apr	16	15	14	1
Sun, 6 Apr	11	9	8	1
Mon, 7 Apr	26	18	16	2
Tue, 8 Apr	26	19	16	3
Wed, 9 Apr	18	13	12	1
Thu, 10 Apr	33	6	6	0
Fri, 11 Apr	31	14	12	2
Sat, 12 Apr	25	18	17	1
Sun, 13 Apr	17	14	13	1
Mon, 14 Apr	49	19	19	0
Tue, 15 Apr	34	24	23	1
Wed, 16 Apr	31	14	12	2
Thu, 17 Apr	17	13	11	2
Fri, 18 Apr	22	15	15	0
Sat, 19 Apr	18	13	11	2
Sun, 20 Apr	13	11	11	0
Mon, 21 Apr	36	16	15	1
Tue, 22 Apr	30	15	15	0
Wed, 23 Apr	25	20	20	0
Thu, 24 Apr	25	17	16	1
Fri, 25 Apr	21	20	20	0
Sat, 26 Apr	9	7	7	0
Sun, 27 Apr	12	11	10	1
Mon, 28 Apr	26	16	14	2
Tue, 29 Apr	12	10	9	1
Wed, 30 Apr	22	14	14	0

TIP: Don't forget about the rest of stats we offer. The email report stats have just a fraction of the information that is available to you. To view your real-time stats reports you should ask Moore Ingram to give you access!

If you wish to disable email reports please click here.

Best regards,

StatCounter Team

TRATON HUMOR: Traton Prepares for Reorganization After Declaring Bankruptcy

2008-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Upon careful review of this article, the Officers of Traton News have chosen to remove the contents of this article. Should you want a copy of the article, as it was originally posted, then please send an email message to:

traton@gmail.com

identifying the title of this article. The Officers of Traton News shall make every attempt to provide you with a copy of the article as it was originally posted.

ON 2008 MAY 30, WE BEGAN REVIEW OF THIS ARTICLE. AT THAT TIME, WE NOTED AS FOLLOWS.

This article is currently being reviewed in response to a request by one of our readers. Upon review, we will either re-publish the originally-posted article or post a revision of the originally-published article.

We expect to have the articles reviewed and published (either in its original form or revised) by June 6, 2008.

We thank you for your patience during our review process.

The Officers of Traton News, LLC

Traton News - Monthly Stats Report 1 Mar - 31 Mar 2008

2008-04-01T04:10:00.001-07:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

Monthly Stats Report: 1 Mar - 31 Mar 2008
Project: Traton News
URL: http://tratonnews.blogspot.com

	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total	917	523	479	44
Average	31	17	16	1

Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Sat, 1 Mar	39	16	12	4
Sun, 2 Mar	20	12	10	2
Mon, 3 Mar	43	25	22	3
Tue, 4 Mar	25	9	8	1
Wed, 5 Mar	17	13	13	0
Thu, 6 Mar	14	10	9	1
Fri, 7 Mar	26	20	17	3
Sat, 8 Mar	26	18	16	2
Sun, 9 Mar	35	18	15	3
Mon, 10 Mar	82	80	80	0
Tue, 11 Mar	37	17	16	1
Wed, 12 Mar	26	12	10	2
Thu, 13 Mar	27	23	20	3
Fri, 14 Mar	20	10	10	0
Sat, 15 Mar	24	12	12	0
Sun, 16 Mar	12	7	5	2
Mon, 17 Mar	25	16	13	3
Tue, 18 Mar	19	15	12	3
Wed, 19 Mar	25	18	18	0
Thu, 20 Mar	20	12	12	0
Fri, 21 Mar	93	28	27	1
Sat, 22 Mar	54	5	5	0
Sun, 23 Mar	8	6	4	2
Mon, 24 Mar	23	18	18	0
Tue, 25 Mar	56	17	14	3
Wed, 26 Mar	24	19	18	1
Thu, 27 Mar	37	20	17	3
Fri, 28 Mar	20	16	16	0
Sat, 29 Mar	22	18	18	0
Sun, 30 Mar	18	13	12	1

TRATON REPRINT: Traton Homes Ratings Sub-Standard for Three Consecutive Years

2008-03-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row, Traton Homes has ranked well below average, as shown by the J.D. Power and Associates survey on Atlanta homes. As reported for 2005 and 2006 by Traton News, the performance by Traton Homes for those years was not far above pathetic.

In the 2007 report, John Wieland Homes makes a clean sweep of all categories, placing it in a very coveted position of being the highest-rated in terms of customer satisfaction.

Unlike John Wieland's stellar performance, Traton Homes ranked barely within the lowest 25th percentile for overall satisfaction, and dwindled around the 30th percentile for new home quality. In short, this translates to a relatively dissatisfied customer base for Traton Homes.

On hearing about the report, a former Traton Homes homeowner remarked:

It doesn't surprise me that John Wieland ranks so high. They have a great reputation and my friends that bought Wieland homes are pleased with their purchase. If I had known this information during my home-buying process, then I would definitely have avoided buying from Traton. The report accurately reflects my sentiments about Traton Homes.

According to Paula Sonkin, vice president of the real estate and construction industries practice at J.D. Power and Associates:

In times like these, as builders attempt to attract customers and close sales in the midst of tightening credit and weakening demand, differentiation through customer satisfaction, new-home quality, design and mortgage origination become especially important.

Keeping satisfaction levels high in these aspects, which are of primary importance to potential buyers, will be critical to remaining competitive.

Originally Reported for Traton News by Moore and Ingram.

TRATON REPRINT: Traton Homes Repeats Lousy Ratings in 2006 J.D. Power Survey

2008-03-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

A 2006 Report, by J.D. Power and Associates, shows that Centex Homes ("Centex"), John Wieland ("Wieland"), and Pulte Homes ("Pulte") rank highest in customer satisfaction for new home buyers in the greater Atlanta area. Centex, which was ranked 3rd in 2005, moved to the top rank in 2006.

Conversely, listed among the worst in customer satisfaction were Patrick Malloy Communities ("Malloy") and Traton Homes ("Traton"). Malloy did not appear in last year's report. However, Traton, who had a well-below-average performance in 2005, dropped to the second-worst spot on the list, ranking below average in the categories of overall customer satisfaction, quality of workmanship and materials, price and value, and home design.

In determining customer satisfaction, J.D. Power and Associates considered a multitude of factors, including customer satisfaction and quality of workmanship.

Details relating to the stellar performance by Centex can be found at:
Centex Homes Ranks Highest in Satisfying New-Home Buyers in Atlanta.

Reprinted for Traton News by Morley Moore

TRATON REPRINT: Traton Homes Rated Poorly in 2005 J.D. Power Survey

2008-03-31T19:04:00.000-07:00

In a 2005 Report by J.D. Power and Associates, Ashton Woods ranked at the top of the survey for customer satisfaction. According to the article, this is the second consecutive year in which Asthon Woods ranked at the top.

After considering a multitude of factors, including customer satisfaction and quality of workmanship, one company that ranked well below average (in the lowest 15th percentile) was Traton Homes ("Traton"). While Traton has been in business for over 35 years, according to some sources Traton has inadequate customer service and inferior workmanship.

Along with Ashton Woods, the companies that took top honors included Venture, Centex, and John Wieland.

Details on the J.D. Power and Associates Report can be found at:
Ashton Woods Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Atlanta Builders for a Second Consecutive Year.

Reprinted for Traton News by Morley Moore

TRATON COURT NEWS: Wal-Mart Spanked in Attempt to Chill Free Speech (Smith v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 1:06-cv-526-TCB (N.D. Ga. March 21, 2008))

2008-03-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

In a recent decision from the Northern District of Georgia, a federal judge held that the First Amendment protects criticism of Wal-Mart’s business practices by using parody.

Rejecting the company’s trademark infringement claim, the court found that Charles Smith’s parody Web sites (www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com) were protected speech. The court also rejected Wal-Mart’s claim that it has trademark rights in the "smiley-face" that Smith used in one of his parodies.

Both Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia Foundation defended Smith after Wal-Mart sued Smith, claiming that he infringed Wal-Mart's trademarks by creating parody logos and Web sites built around the "Walocaust" and "Wal-Qaeda" concepts.

According to attorney Alan Levy of Public Citizen and Gerald Weber of ACLU-GA, Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr.'s decision reaffirms an important point of trademark law (i.e., that even though a parody is placed on a T-shirt and sold, it nevertheless represents noncommercial speech that is fully protected by the First Amendment). Thus, Smith's parody is not a proper target for a trademark action.

According to Levy:

This ruling shows that even the biggest company in America is subject to parody, and that trademark rights must yield to the right of free speech. This is a resounding victory for First Amendment rights and sends a clear message to big corporations that would try to use their deep pockets to intimidate and silence their critics.

As stated by Public Citizen:

Although Wal-Mart spent more than $200,000 on an "expert" witness to prove that consumers seeing these parody T-shirts were likely to be confused, the judge properly recognized that the expert's testimony was junk science and flew in the face of common sense.

The actual ruling can be found at Public Citizen's website, specifically at:
http://www.citizen.org/documents/WalmartDecision.pdf

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON UPDATE: Readership Holds Strong for Traton News

2008-03-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

It is that time of month again, where we report to our readers how we are doing. As most of you have already seen from February's statistics, our readership held steady at over 500 unique visitors and over 1,100 page views.

We kindly thank our readers, again, for the continued support of Traton News.

Stay tuned for upcoming articles that are sure to enlighten, educate, and entertain. As always, we shall do our level best to provide information that all of you will find useful.

For Traton News,
Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Incentives from Traton Homes Sparks Speculation of Stability of Traton Homes

2008-03-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

A recent article on MoneyCentral at MSN reported that desperate home builders, who were likely facing bankruptcy, were "piling on incentives" as they became more and more desperate. The article notes that national builders, like KB Homes, had increased five-fold its offer to pay for part of the closing costs on new or "inventory" homes.

In Georgia, Traton Homes is promoting "Red Hot Incentives & Events" for Realtors to sell new homes.

When asked what this might mean, a former resident of a Traton Homes community and manager-level employee at Home Depot speculated:

It is a tough market for builders. These "red hot" incentives by Traton Homes may be an indication of the stability of Traton Homes. There have already been reports that Traton Homes exhibited the greatest decline in revenue for a Georgia private company. Those reports, along with some stories on how Traton has terrorized one of its own customers, makes me wonder if Traton Homes is paying enough attention to its customers and target market. If Traton Homes is making bad business decisions, then it seems inevitable that Traton Homes will face financial difficulties, if they're not already reeling from financial woes.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

Traton News - Monthly Stats Report 1 Feb - 29 Feb 2008

2008-03-04T08:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

Monthly Stats Report: 1 Feb - 29 Feb 2008
Project: Traton News
URL: http://tratonnews.blogspot.com

	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total	1,146	523	465	58
Average	40	18	16	2

Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Fri, 1 Feb	31	13	12	1
Sat, 2 Feb	23	17	17	0
Sun, 3 Feb	24	22	22	0
Mon, 4 Feb	34	12	11	1
Tue, 5 Feb	58	22	21	1
Wed, 6 Feb	32	15	14	1
Thu, 7 Feb	31	13	10	3
Fri, 8 Feb	32	27	27	0
Sat, 9 Feb	37	20	20	0
Sun, 10 Feb	17	10	9	1
Mon, 11 Feb	25	16	16	0
Tue, 12 Feb	27	19	16	3
Wed, 13 Feb	22	9	8	1
Thu, 14 Feb	28	6	4	2
Fri, 15 Feb	18	11	10	1
Sat, 16 Feb	17	11	10	1
Sun, 17 Feb	14	7	6	1
Mon, 18 Feb	90	31	23	8
Tue, 19 Feb	40	22	16	6
Wed, 20 Feb	139	31	30	1
Thu, 21 Feb	36	29	27	2
Fri, 22 Feb	33	20	18	2
Sat, 23 Feb	23	12	12	0
Sun, 24 Feb	25	13	10	3
Mon, 25 Feb	50	24	21	3
Tue, 26 Feb	60	21	17	4
Wed, 27 Feb	95	31	23	8
Thu, 28 Feb	56	19	18	1
Fri, 29 Feb	29	20	17	3

TRATON HOMES: JKO Design Group transforms personal spaces into aesthetically pleasing yet functional environments

2008-02-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

In the greater Atlanta area, interior designer Jenni O'Dell garnered some recognition when her company, JKO Design Group Inc., was chosen to do the interior design on the home of Atlanta Thrasher's goalie, Kari Lehtonen. Having handled local interior design projects ranging from the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia to the LoRusso Law Firm, and also several design projects in Florida, JKO Design Group is now expanding its reach with an online presence at http://www.jkodesigngroup.com.

Capable of handling both residential and commercial projects, O'Dell prides herself as being personally accessible to all of her clients. "I strive to create a home or work environment for the client that is both functional and fits their lifestyle," says O'Dell. She notes that, for each of her clients, she seeks to "transform their personal spaces into an experience that surpasses what they envisioned."

While her timely responses to her clients and her professional handling of matters is impressive, the personal attention that she provides to each of her clients distinguishes her from others in the field. Whether the client is an individual who seeks a minor re-design of the home or a large corporation looking for an overhaul of their interiors, O'Dell provides the same personal attention to make sure that the interior design suits the client's needs while simultaneously reflecting the client's personality and sense of style.

Despite her demanding schedule, O'Dell hardly considers her projects to be work, insofar as she realizes a sense of personal satisfaction by leaving an imprint of herself with each project.

Story source: PR Log.

TRATON HUMOR: Altogether More . . . .

2008-02-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

A recent anonymous comment, on our article about wasted resources by Traton Corp., recites:

This is rather funny. I always wondered what they were doing instead of making my experience better. :-)

This has prompted Traton News to open up our comment section to gather some creative slogans from our readers. Namely, to see how many different slogans our readers can generate from the phrase:

"Altogether more . . . ."

We look forward to your creative input. With that said, Traton News will begin by posting the first slogan (see comment section, below).

Ingrid Ingram, for Traton News.

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton Corp. Wastes Resources on Relatively Useless Domain Names

2008-02-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

SAGE ADVICE FROM THE INDUSTRY

Anita Campbell, writing in an article for Technology Inc., noted:

A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but if your business name isn't followed by a dot-com your customers may never find your business.

Does your choice of domain name for your website really matter?

I’ll say it does!

Her top advice includes:

(1) Making sure that the name is a ".com" as compared to ".net," ".biz," ".info," or dot-anything-else. The reason being that the Wiki Domain Statistics show the ".com" extension to be almost seven times more prevalent than the next-most-popular ".net" extension; and

(2) Making your domain name as short and easy-to-spell as possible, for obvious reasons (as compared to long and difficult-to-spell names).

DOMAINS REGISTERED BY TRATON CORP.

Recently, it was brought to our attention that Traton Corp. had registered numerous domain names, apparently in a defensive effort (see our previous article). Upon reviewing many of the domain names that were registered by Traton Corp., it appears that the herculean effort by Traton Corp. was nothing more than bad planning and a waste of company resources.

For example, as shown by the whois information, Traton Corp. registered at least the following domain names:

tratonsucks.net
tratonsucks.info
tratonsucks.biz
tratonsux.com
tratonsux.net
tratonsux.biz
tratonsux.info
tratonhomessucks.com
tratonhomessucks.net
tratonhomessucks.biz
tratonhomessucks.info
tratonhomesucks.biz
tratonhomesucks.info
traton-builders-suck.com
traton-builders-suck.net
traton-builders-suck.biz

While there may be more, our source limited the analyses to the above-recited domain names.

THE ANALYSES OF THE DOMAIN NAMES REGISTERED BY TRATON CORP.

One commonality of all of these domain names is that they have the word "suck" (or some variant) in the name. When asked about the value of these domain names, our source responded:

What surprises me is that Traton Corp. spent so much of their resources reserving all of these useless domain names. I can understand the defensive posture of reserving these domain names, but it puzzles me why Traton Corp. neglected to register domain names that were core to their business.

For example, Traton Corp. registered tratonsucks.net, but completely neglected to register tratonhomes.net. One would think that tratonhomes.net would be far more valuable to Traton Corp. than tratonsucks.net, and definitely more valuable than tratonsucks.biz or tratonsucks.info.

The registration information shows that Traton Corp. registered the domains tratonsucks.net, tratonsucks.info, and tratonsucks.biz on June 7, 2006. The funny thing is that traton-homes.com, tratonhomes.net, and traton-homes.net were available well after June 7, 2006, but Traton Corp. never registered them.

Those three sites are now being licensed to a former Traton Homes homeowner, who is now blogging about the horrible customer service that he received from Traton Homes. If Traton Corp. had put a little bit of thought into this, then those gripe sites could easily have been registered by Traton Corp., thereby foreclosing the postings by the disgruntled homeowner. Says the blogger:

I'm not sure who is making the business decisions at Traton Corp., but it seems downright stupid to register so many useless ".biz" and ".info" sites, and then forget about the ".com" site that seems core to your business.

Further research showed that the domain name traton.net was registered by an entity in Great Britain on November 19, 2007. Again, this was well after the June-7 registration of the "tratonsucks" suite by Traton Corp. One must wonder why such a valuable asset, such as traton.net, was wholly ignored by Traton Corp., while much of the useless ".biz" and ".info" sites were reserved at such expense and effort.

AVAILABLE VARIANTS

Of course, our curiosity led us to find out what easy-to-remember domain names were still available. As of the February 26, 2008, tratonhomes.biz, tratonhomes.info, traton-homes.biz, and traton-homes.info were still available, in addition to the more streamlined names traton.biz and traton.info.

When asked about the time, energy, and other resources that Traton Corp. expended in reserving all of those domain names, our source responded:

This is deja vu of the Verizon debacle. Traton Corp. would have done better to improve customer service, rather than wasting all of their time reserving useless domain names. Especially since those domain names are not even core to the business of Traton Corp.

Fortunately, for Traton Corp., the blogger has not yet reserved the domain name TratonCorpShouldFocusMoreOnCustomerServiceThanUselessDomainNames.com.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Defensive Domain Name Registrations

2008-02-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

In a recent article, Traton News noted how an individual blogger had managed to increase the visibility of the blogger's gripe sites.

One may ask why a company would not simply register various domain names as a defensive maneuver. In fact, Verizon did exactly that by registering verizonsucks.com. This, however, did little to stop a magazine from registering verizonreallysucks.com. As noted in a story by Wired, Verizon took issue with the registration of the domain verizonreallysucks.com, and had its attorneys send a nasty letter to the magazine.

Sadly, this turned out to be a public relations nightmare for Verizon, insofar as the magazine promptly registered the domain name VerizonShouldSpendMoreTimeFixingItsNetworkAndLessMoneyOnLawyers.com.

Indeed, as that domain name suggests, the best way to avoid adding content to these gripe sites is by spending more time on customer service, rather than bullying tactics by lawyers.

While it may only take 10 minutes to defensively register a domain name, as the Verizon story shows, there are almost countless permutations of domain names that can be used to "gripe" about a particular company. As such, such a defensive maneuver requires nothing less than a herculean effort (for the countless man-days required to register each permutation of a company's name, and countless dollars required for each of the domain registrations).

Once someone chooses to exercise his or her First Amendment right to "shout from the roof tops" about a company, whether that shouting be positive or negative, it seems that little can be done to forcibly stop the shouter. In a world where these voices have world-wide geographical reach, customer service becomes even more crucial to the survival of a business.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON UPDATE: Additional Sites on Home Builders and Developers

2008-02-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

In our recent article, Online Information on Home Builders and Real-Estate Developers, Traton News had listed several gripe sites that revealed problematic issues with builders and developers.

Since publishing that article, Traton News has learned that the dual sites of Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton now have a corresponding mirrored site on WordPress. Those new sites are:

1. Traton Homes Sucks: Stories about how Traton Homes SUCKS!
and
2. Traton Homes Bites: A Place to Find Out How Much Traton Homes BITES!

In addition, the blogger also reserved a site on geocities.com by Yahoo! under the name tratonsucks.

When the blog poster for these gripe sites was asked why he mirrored the original sites of Traton Sucks and I Hate Traton, he responded as follows:

I have really gotten into blogging lately, and I looked to see if there were any other blog sites with high visibility. Next to Blogger.com, WordPress.com seemed to be pretty popular. My story about how much Traton Sucks has gotten so popular, I wanted to see if I could increase my visibility even more. I guess I am shouting this out from the proverbial roof-top.

What really surprises me is that Traton Homes has not made any effort to reserve these blog sites. It took me no more than 10 minutes to sign up the WordPress blogs, and another 10 minutes or so for the geocities site. You would think that a company with the resources of Traton Homes would spend 10 minutes of their time on a defensive strategy such as acquiring the available blog names with their company name. Well, now it is a gripe site that talks about how horribly they treat their own customers.

For a 10 minute effort, it appears as if Traton Sucks will more than double its online visibility.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: JL Kirk Associates Loses Battle with Blogger

2008-02-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

The negative ramifications of a company trying to shut down a blogger are shown in the video clip from Nashville is Talking.

According to the NashvilleIsTalking.com, JL Kirk Associates did more damage to its own reputation through bullying tactics than the sole blogger could have ever done:

Any negative attention that JL Kirk Associates would have received from the initial blog post has been multiplied hundred-fold. JL Kirk Associates became an online sensation overnight with over 200 blog posts, and counting.

Bill Hobbs, a long-time Nashville journalist, noted that:

King and Ballow did more damage to JL Kirk Associates' reputation than Coble's blog post ever did - and JL Kirk paid them to do it.

Along those lines, Traton News interviewed the blogger for TratonSucks.com to obtain his opinion on JL Kirk's behavior. According to TratonSucks, the firestorm of publicity that was generated by JL Kirk's bullying tactics is not unique to Ms. Coble.

I have developed quite a hobby out of blogging. Some of the First Amendment issues are so intriguing. It seems that any legal proceeding related to websites and blogging will provide opportunities for some constitutional trail-blazing

notes the TratonSucks author.

If an entity like the ACLU were to get involved, then the publicity alone could put a website on the map. Imagine if you are the website that makes constitutional law!

Of course, to garner that type of attention, one can reasonably presume that some important-yet-unaddressed First Amendment issues would need to be implicated.

As of press time, blogs criticizing JL Kirk Associates are still operating, and criticism of JL Kirk does not appear to have diminished.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON REPRINT: Traton Sucks and Taubman Sucks

2008-02-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

Through some basic research one can easily find that organizations with large egos or emotional leadership have tried to shut down "gripe sites" similar to Taubmansucks.com. Indeed, this is exactly the bullying tactics that Mr. Mishkoff had to endure, as noted in the previous Traton News article. Typically, these companies send threatening letters claiming that the "gripe site" is libelous or that the site infringes a trademark.

In these cases, courts have almost-universally afforded First Amendment protection to the "gripe site," noting that those who vent on these sites are doing nothing more than publishing their opinion. High profile cases in the use of gripe sites such as homedepotsucks.com and many others show that fighting against the web site will only hurt a company's business image. When a company sends a cease and desist letter to the "gripe site," that letter often finds a home on the website. Worse yet, the posting of that letter can generate substantial Internet traffic to the site, and increase the popularity of the site. This happened to Lowe's Companies, Inc. when they sent such a letter to lowes-sucks.com. According to some, "Lowe's is paying enough attention to pay lawyers to shoot off some letters, but not enough to actually fix their crappy install. Real classy, guys. Real classy."

Examples similar to Lowe's abound. For example, Traton Corp. has expended countless hours of attorney time in fighting its own customer. Evidenced by court filings related to that case, Traton Corp. is paying enough attention to pay lawyers to shoot off some letters, but not enough attention to actually fix the swatch of damaged sod.

For a small company, these "gripe sites" may sound the death-knell for the business. In 1996 EPS Technologies, an $80 million company went out of business. Reports identify significant revenue loss to four "gripe sites" sharing experiences about the lack of customer service by EPS. Unfortunately, because of the nature of their business, on-line customers searched the Internet for EPS' company information, but frequently came across these "gripe sites," which surpassed the EPS site in search rankings.

With the increasing importance of web-based information, having stellar customer service appears to be the best way to maintaining a complaint-free existence on the web. If a company has a history of horrible customer service, working toward fixing the issues and mending ties with the past customers may be the only solution to avoiding these sites and not losing millions of dollars in profits. Unfortunately, there will always be bull-headed companies, such as Lowe's and Traton Corp., who would rather fight a customer in legal proceedings than to provide outstanding customer service.

Originally Reported for Traton News by Ingrid Ingram

TRATON REPRINT: Kudos to Mr. Mishkoff on Taubman Sucks Sites

2008-02-18T10:45:00.001-08:00

An interesting site, "Taubman Sucks," shows the ordeal that one individual had to overcome in dealing with a corporate bully. It is a classic David-meets-Goliath case where one individual was able to fight a giant corporation, based solely on principle, making the corporation expend hundreds of thousands of dollars.

From a business standpoint, what is probably more detrimental to Taubman, Willow Bend, and all of the other related businesses is the lost sales and lost revenue from the Taubman Sucks website. The site itself is a very well documented site, which conveys an easy-to-follow story about the woes inflicted on one individual by a corporation that had no business threatening its own would-be customer.

After others have read about Mr. Mishkoff's ordeal, it is likely that Taubman (and other related entities) will not gain the loyal following that it could, were it not for the "sucks" sites that are prominently posted on the Internet. Even more onerous on the corporation is that these "sucks" sites will exist in perpetuity on the Internet. Thus, even months, years, or decades after the dispute is over, the horrible customer treatment by Taubman will remain visible for all to see, thereby contributing to additional lost sales over the course of time.

As such, the attorneys fees and other expenses will likely pale in comparison to the revenue that is lost as a result of Mr. Mishkoff's "sucks" sites.

While the retail industry may lose tens or maybe hundreds of dollars, if such a "sucks" site is established for high-dollar items, such as homes and cars, then one can imagine that the lost sales from such a "sucks" site can quickly reach tens-of-thousands or even hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in a single year.

Of course, this does not take into account the constant thorn-in-the-side memory that Taubman and its attorneys have to re-live, every time that they visit the Taubman Sucks site (or related site).

We give proper kudos to Mr. Mishkoff on a story that is well written, on a website that is simple and clean, and on a tenacity that eventually triumphed over a corporate bully. The video footage of his plight is also quite entertaining and informative.

Originally Reported for Traton News by Ingrid Ingram.

TRATON UPDATE: Another Website Providing Online Information on Builders

2008-02-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

In a recent article, Traton News reported on several online sites that provided information on various builders and developers.

Recently, it has come to our attention that the duo of TratonSucks.com and IHateTraton.com has added a third site, Traton Homes Bites.

Unlike TratonSucks.com and IHateTraton.com, the new site Traton Homes Bites is owned by a different entity from the duo, and is only accessible by permission from the owner.

As of yet, Traton News has not been able to discern whether webcrawlers or other spiders can access Traton Homes Bites so that the existence of the site becomes known to the general public. Insofar as Traton Homes Bites is permission-only accessible, one can only guess at the contents of the new site.

Permission can be obtained, at the owner's discretion, by emailing the owner directly at homereporter@gmail.com.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON REPRINT: Potentially Catastrophic Consequences for New Housing Developments

2008-02-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

Recently, an article on builderonline.com noted the woes faced by Levitt and Sons, who was ranked in the top 50 by builderonline.com. One source, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that buyers of homes in Levitt's Seasons at Laurel Canyon were faced with catastrophic consequences due to Levitt halting its work in that development.

According to some, since the requisite number of homes had not yet been sold in the Laurel Canyon development, the homeowners' association ("HOA") is still being managed by Levitt or one of its affiliated companies. Unfortunately, since the homeowners are bound by the covenant, they are still responsible for any HOA dues that Levitt imposes on the homeowners.

Normally, the HOA dues are calculated by dividing the common costs equally by all of the homeowners in that development. As such, each home is responsible for only a small portion of the entire cost of maintenance. However, with Laurel Canyon, since only a small fraction of the homes have actually been built and sold, the common costs are divided among only the current homeowners, which makes the proportionate amount of the HOA dues nontrivial. Thus, for those living in this Levitt community, they are beholden to the HOA for more than what they had originally anticipated.

Intuitively, this type of problem with over-inflated HOA dues will be less of an issue in established developments where the homes are already sold and occupied. For example, while Pulte Homes is currently facing the possibility of bankruptcy, these issues will not plague buyers that plan on buying a Pulte home in an established neighborhood, such as the Chastain Enclave subdivision in Cobb County, Georgia. The reason being that the Chastain subdivision is, for the most part, fully developed and all of the homes are sold and occupied.

According to a former Cobb County homeowner and management-level employee at the corporate offices of Home Depot, there is a greater likelihood for problems in new developments (such as Barnes Mill, Paces Farm, Walden Park, and other developments by Traton Corp.) in which there may be excess inventory of new homes that have not yet been sold. The reason being that, if development halts, then the current home owners are proverbially "left holding the bag" for the entire unsold portion of the development. Of course, such problems would not be unique to Traton's new developments, but to new developments by any builder.

This being said, the advice to those in the market for a home would be to either wait until the real-estate market rebounds or to buy a home in an area that is already well established.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

Originally published by Traton News here.

TRATON HEADLINE: webgripesites.com Features Affiliate of Traton News

2008-02-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

Recently, webgripesites.com, which has been cited by Boston Globe and other prominent publications, featured one of the affiliate sites for Traton News, LLC. Namely, tratonsucks.com was prominently displayed as the feature listing for webgripesites.com. A printout of the featured listing is shown here.

"For a website that is so young to be the featured site for webgripesites is quite humbling," notes the author of the articles at tratonsucks.com.

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Continued Increase in Readership for Traton News

2008-02-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

According to our latest statistics, Traton News is increasing in popularity.

Seeing 529 unique visitors and 1244 page loads, it appears as if our articles have caught the attention of Georgia readers.

We thank our readers for their continued support.

For Traton News,
Morley Moore and Ingrid Ingram

Traton News - Monthly Stats Report 1 Jan - 31 Jan 2008

2008-02-01T09:35:00.001-08:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

Monthly Stats Report: 1 Jan - 31 Jan 2008
Project: Traton News
URL: http://tratonnews.blogspot.com

	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total	1,244	529	465	64
Average	40	17	15	2

Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Tue, 1 Jan	9	7	7	0
Wed, 2 Jan	5	5	5	0
Thu, 3 Jan	13	7	6	1
Fri, 4 Jan	70	18	13	5
Sat, 5 Jan	100	13	6	7
Sun, 6 Jan	67	15	12	3
Mon, 7 Jan	47	14	12	2
Tue, 8 Jan	78	22	18	4
Wed, 9 Jan	32	16	15	1
Thu, 10 Jan	45	27	24	3
Fri, 11 Jan	11	10	10	0
Sat, 12 Jan	18	4	3	1
Sun, 13 Jan	9	6	5	1
Mon, 14 Jan	35	18	17	1
Tue, 15 Jan	17	13	11	2
Wed, 16 Jan	41	18	16	2
Thu, 17 Jan	44	17	15	2
Fri, 18 Jan	75	38	36	2
Sat, 19 Jan	25	11	10	1
Sun, 20 Jan	24	15	15	0
Mon, 21 Jan	41	19	18	1
Tue, 22 Jan	67	36	35	1
Wed, 23 Jan	51	24	18	6
Thu, 24 Jan	37	18	16	2
Fri, 25 Jan	51	24	23	1
Sat, 26 Jan	27	11	8	3
Sun, 27 Jan	36	15	11	4
Mon, 28 Jan	30	18	17	1
Tue, 29 Jan	50	24	21	3
Wed, 30 Jan	53	26	23	3
Thu, 31 Jan	36	20	19	1

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton Homes Covenants Worthless to Protect Homeowners

2008-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

In a case that was decided by the Georgia Court of Appeals, the attorneys for Traton Homes successfully argued that a homeowner had no right to prevent others from damaging the right-of-way that is adjacent to the home. Even though, as the picture below shows, the right-of-way is a non-trivial, 13-foot-wide perimeter of the yard.

In considering the issue, Traton Corp. argued that its own covenants could not require the homeowner to maintain that large right-of-way, even though the right-of-way forms a part of the yard. The Court of Appeals agreed, stating:

The covenants merely require Moses and other Lot owners to maintain their Lots, and neither Moses's Lot nor any other owner's Lot includes the right of way.

According to the Appellant in the action:

This decision affects every homeowner in a covenanted neighborhood, and not only those in Traton Homes developments. Traton's attorneys stated, in no uncertain terms, that a homeowner need not maintain that 13-foot-wide portion of the yard, and the Court surprisingly agreed. So, any renegade homeowner can leave the right-of-way portion of his yard in disarray, and the homeowners' association can't do a thing about it. Even if it detrimentally affects the value of their homes.

I am puzzled why Traton Homes would want to devalue their property by arguing that their covenants are worthless. I mean, this affects all of Traton Homes' new developments as well as their established developments.

I'm curious to see how they're going to sell houses, especially when potential buyers find out that they are purchasing a home with a worthless covenant.

While this particular case involved a home in the Lakefield Manor subdivision, the Appellant correctly points out that other Traton communities are affected, including Traton's Barnes Mill, Lochshire, Edenbridge - Overlook at Marietta Country Club, The Gates at Parkside Village, Paces Farm, The Verandas, Riverbanks at Tributary at New Manchester, Rosewood Park, and The Estates at Walden Park.

"Traton basically depreciated the property value for all Traton homeowners. In a down market such as now, it adds yet another barrier for current homeowners of Traton property to sell their homes," states the Appellant. "Why a company would torpedo its own customers is a mystery to me."

Indeed, it is also a mystery to us.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore and Ingram.

TRATON COURT NEWS: Moses v. Traton Corp. et al., A07A1474, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Third Division (July 10, 2007, Decided)

2008-01-30T07:09:00.000-08:00

The Court of Appeals for the State of Georgia has seemingly changed the landscape of property law by ruling that homeowners cannot prevent damage to the right-of-way that adjoins their homes.

The damaged property that was the subject-matter of this dispute is shown in this picture (see red box). The Plaintiff's home and the remainder of the yard are shown to be contiguous with the damaged land.

The Opinion by the Georgia Court of Appeals addresses the Plaintiff's rights in that damaged land. The Opinion is recited below.

Moses v. Traton Corp. et al., A07A1474, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Third Division (July 10, 2007, Decided).

DISPOSITION: Judgment affirmed.

JUDGES: BLACKBURN, Presiding Judge. Ruffin and Bernes, JJ., concur.

OPINION BY: BLACKBURN

OPINION

Blackburn, Presiding Judge.

In a trespass action brought by Christopher Moses against builder Traton Corporation and an employee, Moses appeals the denial of his motion for summary judgment and the grant of defendants' cross motion for summary judgment, contending that the trial court erred in ruling that Moses lacked standing. We disagree and affirm.

Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 (c). A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant.

Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp. ¹

So viewed, the record shows that in May 2004, Moses bought a house from Traton, which developed Moses's subdivision according to a recorded plat establishing Moses's (and other owners') property boundaries and public rights of way. After Moses's house was built, but before final subdivision construction was completed, Traton's (or its agents') construction vehicles drove over a portion of the grass near the curb in front of Moses's house, creating ruts and other damage to the turf and soil. It is undisputed that the portion of grass over which the trucks drove is located outside of Moses's lot and entirely within a public right of way owned by Cobb County, as shown by the controlling plat attached to Moses's deed.

Moses brought the damage to Traton's attention, and although Traton initially repaired some damage, Moses was unable to persuade Traton to fix subsequent damage done to the grass. Moses then filed a trespass action against Traton and a Traton employee and moved for summary judgment; defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. Ruling that Moses had no standing, the trial court denied Moses's motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment to defendants. Moses now appeals.

1. Sufficiency of possessory interest for standing to sue for trespass. Moses contends that the trial court erred in failing to recognize his standing to sue based on his alleged possessory interest in the damaged property. Moses concedes that he does not own the damaged land and that none of the land he owns was damaged. Instead he relies on OCGA § 51-9-2, which states that "[t]he bare right to possession of lands shall authorize their recovery by the owner of such right, as well as damages for the withholding of such right." Therefore, if a plaintiff is not the owner of the land in question, "[t]o maintain an action for trespass or injury to realty, it is essential that the plaintiff show . . . that he was . . . in possession at the time of the trespass." Smith v. Fischer. ²

Here, Moses contends that because he attended to the landscaping on the property between his lot and the street, and because he requested that others not invade that property, he showed a sufficient level of possession to demonstrate standing. However, in this context, "possession" is considered to be "one degree of title. . . . Possession implies a present right to deal with property at pleasure, and to exclude other persons from meddling with it." Justice v. Aikin. ³ See Bethel Farm Bureau v. Anderson. ⁴ Moses has not demonstrated legal possession because the subject property is, as he concedes, a public right of way owned by Cobb County. While Moses may use the right of way in the same manner as other members of the public, his interest in such property is not one whereby he may assert that he possesses the land to the exclusion of others. Therefore, the trial court correctly ruled that Moses's asserted possessory interest did not provide a basis to demonstrate standing to sue for trespass.

2. Scope of Moses's possession under his deed. Moses also relies on OCGA § 44-5-167, which states that "[p]ossession under a duly recorded deed will be construed to extend to all the contiguous property embraced in the deed." Based on this, Moses argues that he is deemed to be in possession of the public right of way because it is contiguous to his property, which is delineated in a duly recorded deed. However, this ignores the Code's plain wording, i.e. that possession extends to "the contiguous property embraced in the deed." See Martin v. Clark ⁵ ("a claimant in actual possession of a part of a tract may rely upon the presumption that his possession extends to the boundaries of the tract described in his paper title") (emphasis supplied). As Moses's deed did not embrace the property outside of his lot, and the subject property is not within the lot described in Moses's deed, OCGA § 44-5-167 is not a basis for Moses to show standing here.

3. Unlawful interference with right of way. Moses next relies on OCGA § 51-9-10, which states that "[t]he unlawful interference with a right of way or a right of common constitutes a trespass to the party entitled thereto." Moses argues that the trial court erred in failing to recognize his standing to prevent an unlawful interference with a right of way. We disagree.

As a general matter, OCGA § 51-9-10 protects the rights of users of rights of way from interference with their use. Moreover, "[o]wners of property which abuts a public road have the right to the use and enjoyment of such road in common with all other members of the public, as well as other rights such as ingress and egress which do not belong to the public generally." (Punctuation omitted.) Holland v. Shackelford. ⁶ However, the right to ingress and egress enjoyed by a contiguous property owner (and not the public) does not encompass such a possessory right as to authorize the contiguous property owner to exclude the public from the right of way.

Here, Moses has provided no evidence of interference with his right to ingress and egress over the public right of way. Therefore, contrary to Moses's argument, Moses retains full enjoyment of his right to come and go over the right of way as he pleases. Accordingly, nothing in OCGA § 51-9-10 is implicated by his claim here, and the trial court did not err in so ruling.

Moses also relies on Clayton County v. Billups Eastern Petroleum Co., ⁷ which addressed the following question:

whether a cause of action is stated for damage to property by a petition alleging facts sufficient to authorize a jury to find substantial impairment of an owner's right of ingress and egress directly to and from the highway where . . . the highway is converted from an unlimited to a limited access road and there is provided at the time of the change a service road by which the plaintiff's property can be reached.

Finding that the conversion of the highway was an impairment of the plaintiff's prior "practically unlimited ingress and egress," this Court ruled that the plaintiff had stated a claim against the State for making the conversion without compensating the plaintiff for this impairment. Id. at 782.

Based on this reasoning, Moses argues that he has standing here to pursue a trespass action against Traton's construction vehicles. However, Billups Eastern is an eminent domain case in which the plaintiff sued the State, not a trespass action against a private party. Moreover, even if we apply the analogy here, Moses's right to ingress and egress (which was the right at issue in Billups) has not been impaired in any way by the damage done in the right of way. Thus, if Traton had installed a curb or some other impairment to Moses's right of ingress and egress, see, e.g., Dougherty County v. Hornsby, ⁸ Billups Eastern might support such an argument here. But as Moses has identified no diminishment in his right of user or enjoyment with respect to his own property, nor any impairment to his ability to use the right of way or access his property, his reliance on Billups Eastern here is misplaced.

4. Effect of the covenants associated with Moses's estate. Moses also contends that the covenants recorded with his deed create a sufficient property interest in the right of way for him to pursue a trespass action. We disagree.

Moses's deed is subject to covenants which by their terms, "are for the purpose of protecting the value and desirability of, and which shall run with, the real property and be binding on all parties having any right, title or interest in the described properties [including Moses's Lot] . . . and shall inure to the benefit of each owner thereof." The covenants require owners to maintain their "Lots," which are defined, in relevant part, as the owner's "plot of land."

Moses argues that the obligation to maintain his Lot, and his right to enforce the covenants against other Lot owners, gives him legal standing to maintain a trespass action with respect to land in the right of way. This argument ignores the distinction between the public right of way and Moses's private Lot, which are both delineated in the recorded plat. The covenants merely require Moses and other Lot owners to maintain their Lots, and neither Moses's Lot nor any other owner's Lot includes the right of way. Moreover, in obligating Moses to maintain his Lot, the covenants do not purport to create either an ownership or a possessory interest with regard to the subject property. Therefore, Moses cannot now rely on the covenants to show standing to maintain this trespass action.

5. Factual indicia of possession. Finally, Moses argues that the trial court misconstrued or ignored facts that tend to support his claim of possession. However, in light of our rulings herein with respect to Moses's lack of legal interest in the right of way, the facts Moses points to, such as his mowing of the area, or another property owners' opinions with respect to Moses's legal interest in the land, are not sufficient to create in Moses a legally cognizable possessory interest in the public right of way. Accordingly, this argument is without merit.

Judgment affirmed. Ruffin and Bernes, JJ., concur.

1 Matjoulis v. Integon Gen. Ins. Corp., 226 Ga. App. 459 (1) (486 SE2d 684) (1997).

2 Smith v. Fischer, 52 Ga. App. 598, 599 (184 SE 406) (1936).

3 Justice v. Aikin, 104 Ga. 714, 716 (30 SE 941) (1898).

4 Bethel Farm Bureau v. Anderson, 217 Ga. 529, 532 (3) (123 SE2d 754) (1962).

5 Martin v. Clark, 190 Ga. 270, 274 (4) (9 SE2d 54) (1940).

6 Holland v. Shackelford, 220 Ga. 104, 111 (2) (137 SE2d 298) (1964).

7 Clayton County v. Billups Eastern Petroleum Co., 104 Ga. App. 778, 780 (123 SE2d 187) (1961).

8 Dougherty County v. Hornsby, 213 Ga. 114, 117-118 (1) (97 SE2d 300) (1957).

TRATON HEADLINE: Atlanta Homes - New Information Source Available for Home Buyers

2008-01-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

Many home-buying decisions originate as Internet searches for information. For this reason, various builders, developers, real-estate agents, and other entities have posted a plethora of information on the Internet to increase their visibility.

Much of these amount to nothing more than propaganda that provides a sales pitch.

Unlike these propaganda sites, there also exist some sites that are dedicated to providing useful information that can apprise the potential home-buyer of a handful of issues related to one or more of the builders, developers, or other vendors.

One trusted site is clarkhoward.com, where Atlanta's own Clark Howard, who is a consumer advocate, provides lots of useful information on everything, including homes.

Another site simply called Atlanta Homes, which is relatively new, is dedicated to only reporting on Atlanta Homes (hence, the catchy title for the website). Unlike Clark Howard, who provides information on a variety of consumer topics, Atlanta Homes has focused its topics to only those that affect real estate, ranging from residential homes and market conditions to focused research on customer service by specific companies.

What is unique is that Atlanta Homes simply gathers news-worthy items and re-posts them with proper attribution to the original sources. Thus, as noted by one frequent visitor to Atlanta Homes, "you now have a single website that brings together real-estate-related news for the greater metro-Atlanta area. Also, since Atlanta Homes does not actually write the articles, but merely gathers them from other sources, I would think that their posts are relatively un-biased."

Reporting for Traton News,
Ingrid Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Online Information on Home Builders and Real-Estate Developers

2008-01-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

In a recent article by Traton News, we reported various "gripe sites" in which consumers had reported on some of the deplorable acts by home builders and residential developers.

Given that the residential real-estate market is in a slump, the information on these sites gives new home buyers a range of issues that they should consider before buying a new home. While the "gripes" may not be universal to all home buyers' experiences, they nevertheless tell a cautionary tale for potential purchasers.

With that said, the stories can be found at the following sites:

1. Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD)
2. Home Owners for Better Building (HOBB)
3. Traton Sucks and the sister site I Hate Traton
4. Crap Construction
5. Exposing New Home Builders
6. K. Hovnanian Homes Sucks and Another Site
7. Levitt and Sons, Problems
8. Neighborhoods for Quality Homes
9. Several "Fight" Sites, including Fight Pulte, Fight Divosta, and Fight Del Webb

Insofar as the real estate market is now facing some problems, it is likely that these "gripe sites," such as Traton Sucks, will gain more attention from unsatisfied home owners.

There is no doubt that, as the popularity of these sites increases during this down market, there will be a corresponding decline in sales for home builders that are on the receiving end of such complaints.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore.

TRATON REPRINT: Traton Homes Exhibits Greatest Decline in Revenue for Georgia Private Company

2008-01-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Atlanta Business Chronicle ("ABC") reported that Traton Homes ("Traton") had the largest decline in revenue by a Georgia private company. Traton's decline was quite surprising since, according to the article, the residential real estate market did quite well during the same time.

Some have opined that the sharp decline in Traton's revenue can be attributed to poor customer service by Traton, coupled with Traton's below-average workmanship and product quality. Those opinions appear substantiated by the poor performance that Traton posted in the 2005 and 2006 J.D. Power and Associates Report on customer satisfaction.

The article from the Atlanta Business Chronicle can be found at:
Good Times Continue to Roll for Private Companies

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

This article is a reprint of an article that previously appeared on Traton News.

TRATON SPORTS: The Passing of Bobby Fischer, America's Greatest Chess Player

2008-01-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, 2008 January 17, one of the greatest legends of chess, Robert James Fischer, better known as "Bobby" Fischer, died of renal failure. While he was somewhat odd and controversial, it can hardly be disputed that he changed the game of chess forever.

He was the only American to ever hold the official title of world chess champion, although Paul Morphy (who Fischer considered to be the greatest chess player ever), another American chess prodigy, has been recognized as the world's greatest, albeit without the formal title.

It is somewhat coincidental that Fischer died at the age of 64, the exact number of squares on a chess board.

Click here to see some of Fischer's greatest games.

for Traton News,
Moore and Ingram

Reproduced with permission from the blog of Sam S. Han, Ph.D., J.D.

TRATON NEWS: TERMS AND CONDITIONS

2008-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

REVISED: 2008 JANUARY 18

The blog for "Traton News" is operated by Traton News, LLC. The information on this site is NOT intended to be legal advice. Moreover, no post or link on this blog is intended to establish any attorney-client relationship, and no attorney-client relationship should be inferred in the absence of a written and executed engagement letter that expressly indicates the creation of an attorney-client relationship. By clicking through to the articles posted on this blog, you are agreeing to the following Terms and Conditions.

1. Agreement Between You and Traton News, LLC (hereafter "Traton News"). The following terms and conditions (the "Terms and Conditions") apply to all visitors to, or users of, this Web site. By accessing this Web site, You acknowledge acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. In the case of any violation of these Terms and Conditions, Traton News reserves the right to seek all remedies available by law and in equity for such violations. Traton News acknowledges that there are other available Web sites that offer comparable products and services. In that regard, Traton News acknowledges that You have almost unlimited choices in selecting a Web site to accommodate Your needs, and that Your selection of Traton News is completely voluntary. In that regard, You agree, by entering into this Agreement, that You will be strictly bound to all of the terms and conditions set forth herein.

2. General Use Provisions and Copyright. You acknowledge that Traton News has spent valuable time and effort in developing this Web site. Thus, all materials provided on this Web site, including but not limited to all text, logos, designs, graphics, images, sounds, information, software, documents, products and services (collectively, the "Materials"), and the selection, arrangement and display thereof, are the copyrighted works of Traton News. All Materials herein and all Traton News software are proprietary to Traton News and protected by worldwide copyright and other intellectual property laws. Except as stated herein, none of the Materials may be modified, copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, sold, compiled, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other means, without the prior express written permission of Traton News.

Additionally, none of these materials may be used for the benefit of Traton Corp. and/or it affiliates for any reason whatsoever without the express written consent of Traton News. Such consent shall be provided at the discretion of Traton News. Any materials used for benefit of Traton Corp. and/or its affiliates which results in a loss and/or harm to Traton News or any of the directors, members, managers, employees, agents, vendors, or suppliers of Traton News (collectively "Traton News Entities"), shall be a violation of your agreement with Traton News. As such, you agree to indemnify Traton News and/or any of the Traton News Entities for any such harm and/or losses.

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16. Choice of Law and Choice of Forum. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Virginia, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in or nearest to Roanoke, Virginia, in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of this Web site. Use of this Web site is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph.

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TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Part III - Lochshire by Traton Homes Surrounded by Sex Offenders

2008-01-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

Following up on Part I and Part II of the exclusive by Traton News, preliminary results show that Lochshire by Traton Homes, like Barnes Mill homes (also from Traton Homes), appears to be geographically-central to the location of Georgia's registered sex offenders.

Similar to the methodology from the Barnes Mill study, the research team located the Lochshire development on the map using the address provided from the website of Traton Homes, which placed the Lochshire residential community somewhere near Dunlavin Drive in Acworth, Georgia. Thereafter, the cities in closest proximity were determined by examining the map.

From visual inspection, it appeared that the Lochshire community was situated on or near the border of Kennesaw and Acworth, Georgia. In keeping with the methodology from their Barnes Mill community study, the research team plotted the location of the registered sex offenders in both Kennesaw and Acworth.

According to one of the researchers:

It appeared at first glance that the Lochshire community was the geographic epicenter of the registered sex offenders in this study, similar to how Barnes Mill was the geographic epicenter for the cities in that study. Since it seemed highly unusual that our first two data points (Barnes Mill and Lochshire) would both be the geographic center of the location of sex offenders, we wanted to confirm our findings. So, we took the additional step of drawing a circle on the map, using the Lochshire location as the center of the circle.

If, indeed, our preliminary results were correct, then the points on the map, which identify the sexual predators, would fall within the circle. If, however, our preliminary results were not as they initially appeared, then we would see a skew in the plots.

When the additional step was taken to confirm the data, the research team found, to their surprise, that for the second time in a row a Traton Homes community was, for all intents and purposes, the geographic center on the sexual predator map for Kennesaw and Acworth.

Says the research team:

While it is too early to make any conclusive remarks, this is very disturbing. If, in our future studies of Traton Homes communities, we find that those communities are also centrally located with reference to the population of registered sex offenders, then it would almost appear as if Traton Homes was buying land without considering its relation to the location of sex offenders in an effort to maximize profits. Of course, we cannot say for sure without analyzing other factors and speaking directly with Traton Homes or its agents.

"Right now, we have information on Barnes Mill and Lochshire," says one researcher. "It will be interesting to see whether the correlation for the other Traton Homes communities is as pronounced as the correlation that we found for Barnes Mill and Lochshire." When asked if they could hazard a guess as to what they expected to find from the other Traton Homes communities, the lead researcher responded: "We really can't comment on what we will find. But so far the results have been fascinating, to say the least."

According to the research team, a more in-depth analysis is underway to see if there is any correlation between dangerous sex offenders (as opposed to non-violent offenders) in the Georgia registry and the homes in the Lochshire community. The research team hopes to compile those findings, along with the in-depth study of the Barnes Mill development, and determine whether there are any statistically-significant conclusions that can be derived from the results.

"After we conclude this entire study, we will have an additional variable available for home buyers, at least in the metro-Atlanta area," notes the research team. Such information should prove valuable for home buyers.

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingram and Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton Homes Ranks Below Average for Third Consecutive Year, According to J.D. Powers

2008-01-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

It doesn't surprise me that John Wieland ranks so high. They have a great reputation and my friends that bought Wieland homes are pleased with their purchase. If I had known this information during my home-buying process, then I would definitely have avoided buying from Traton. The report accurately reflects my sentiments about Traton Homes.

According to Paula Sonkin, vice president of the real estate and construction industries practice at J.D. Power and Associates:

In times like these, as builders attempt to attract customers and close sales in the midst of tightening credit and weakening demand, differentiation through customer satisfaction, new-home quality, design and mortgage origination become especially important.

Keeping satisfaction levels high in these aspects, which are of primary importance to potential buyers, will be critical to remaining competitive.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore, Ingram.

TRATON HEADLINE: Researchers at Korea's POSTECH Develop Next Generation Laser Light

2008-01-09T06:11:00.000-08:00

According to a recent article by Chosun Ilbo (a newspaper in Korea), a team led by Prof. Kwon O-Dae of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has developed the world’s first blue laser light source.

According to the researchers, the LED semiconductor diode already performs 10 times better than incandescent light and lasts semi-permanently. The blue laser light differs from LED in that it releases what is called "coherent light."

Says the team: "While most patents for LED technologies belong to Japan, Korea secured patents for laser light technologies." The team plans to work with Korean businesses to commercialize the technologies.

Reporting for Traton News,
Morley Moore

TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Part II - High Correlation between Location of Sex Offenders and Barnes Mill by Traton Homes

2008-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Following up on a recent article (Part I) by Traton News, preliminary results show that there is an extremely high correlation between the location of registered sex offenders (e.g., pedophiles, child molesters, rapists, etc.) for three Georgia cities (Austell, Mableton, and Smyrna) and the residential community of Barnes Mill by Traton Homes.

In doing this study, the location of Barnes Mill (by Traton Homes), which is near the intersection of Hicks Road and the East-West Connector in the suburbs of the metro-Atlanta area, was plotted on a map using google maps.

Thereafter, the locations of registered sex offenders for various cities were plotted on google maps and overlaid onto the Barnes Mill map. Since the online program only allowed the research team to plot one city at a time, the individual plots for each city were superimposed onto each other to create the aggregate map that is shown here.

According to the research team:

What is surprising is that there is an extremely high correlation between the location of the registered sex offenders for the cities in our study and the location of Barnes Mill by Traton Homes. For example, if we draw an approximately-three-mile radius from Barnes Mill, which is shown as the black circle on the map, then we see that there is a 100% correlation between the Barnes Mill community and the Austell registered sex offenders.

"Normally, 80% or 90% is pretty high. But, here, we're surprised to see a 100% correlation. Now that's pretty disturbing," states the principal researcher. "When we add in the registered sex offenders for Mableton and Smyrna, then Barnes Mill almost appears to be the geographic epicenter on the sex-offender-location map."

While there are some outliers, most of the points on the map fall inside of the circle. "If we start including other nearby cities like Marietta and Powder Springs, then the raw number of sexual predators can only increase," states the research team. "This can't be a good thing."

When asked why Barnes Mill was chosen as the first data point, the researcher noted: "Well, I have a friend who used to live in a Traton Homes community, and we talk about his previous home quite a bit. Since I have to start somewhere, I figured 'why not start with the Traton Homes communities and move onto others.' This way, if my friends or others want to move into a Traton Homes community, then they will have at least one more data point for consideration."

According to the research team, a more in-depth analysis is underway to see if there is any correlation between dangerous sex offenders (as opposed to non-violent offenders) in the Georgia registry and the Barnes Mill community.

When asked about future research objectives, the research team replied:

Once we obtain all of the necessary data for Barnes Mill, then we will move onto other Traton Homes communities, such as Lochshire, Edenbridge - Overlook at Marietta Country Club, The Gates at Parkside Village, Paces Farm, The Verandas, Riverbanks at Tributary at New Manchester, Rosewood Park, and The Estates at Walden Park. After we gather the data on a community-by-community basis, then we can analyze that data to see what aggregate effect it has on the Traton Homes communities as a whole.

The research team also voiced an interest in examining other developers and residential communities. However, those future studies would largely depend on the value of the information obtained from this study. According to the research team, "deviating from a sequential and linear process will only dilute any trends or correlations that can be gleaned from this study."

Reporting for Traton News,

Ingrid Ingram and Morley Moore.

TRATON EXCLUSIVE: Part I - New Study on the Correlation between Location of Georgia Sex Offenders and Residential Communities

2008-01-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

The recent slump in the residential housing market has prompted one researcher to examine various factors that may affect the popularity or desirability of various residential communities.

"Everyone knows that location is an important factor in land-buying decisions, whether it be residential or commercial real estate," states the researcher. "For residential real estate, other factors such as price and school district also play a major part in the home-buying decision."

When prompted about his particular study, the researcher noted:

What I want to do is focus on one factor that may be important, but for which very little data exists. Specifically, it is the correlation between the location of residential communities and their proximity to registered sex offenders. Since homes are typically bought by families with small children, or those who plan on starting families, I believe that this factor can be the deal-breaker for those planning to buy a home.

Continuing his explanation, he states "while the information exists, it is not easy to find. I think that this study will provide some valuable information." When asked how he plans to proceed, he told Traton News that, at least in Georgia, the location of registered sex offenders is available online. Similarly, the location of various residential communities can be found using location tools, such as those found at AtlantaNewHomesDirectory.com. Thus, by superimposing the location of the residential community with the location of the registered sex offenders for various cities, one can apparently determine the correlation between the location of the sex offenders and a particular community.

Stating that the study has only begun, the researcher told Traton News that he would be agreeable to sharing some of the gathered data, but only under conditions of anonymity. "I would hate to be bothered by various developers and builders who try to skew my data results."

Reporting for Traton News,

Moore and Ingram

TRATON HEADLINE: Wisconsin Man Charged with Attempted Murder for Lacing Drink with RU-486

2008-01-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

Manishkumar M. Patel offered a smoothie to his girlfriend. She, however, was unaware that Patel had mixed into the smoothie a dose of mifepristone (better known as RU-486) that was sufficient to cause a miscarriage.

On Thursday, Patel was accused of slipping the drug to the woman without her knowledge, and was charged with seven felonies and two misdemeanors, including attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child.

According to the Associated Press:

Manishkumar Patel, 34, is charged with first-degree homicide of an unborn child and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. He's also charged with placing foreign objects in edibles, possession with intent to deliver prescriptions, stalking, burglary, possession of burglary tools, and two counts of violating a restraining order.

The woman had a blood sample sent to a California lab for analysis after apparently suspecting she had been slipped the abortion pill also known as RU-486. She approached the sheriff's department when it tested positive for the drug. Sheriff's investigators said the man admitted putting the drug in something the woman consumed without her knowledge.

A search of Patel's residence revealed an envelope containing pills labeled as mifepristone. He told deputies that he obtained the pills from India (since access to RU-486 is strictly regulated in the U.S., and it is only administered to women in a doctor's office).

Patel was ordered held on $750,000 bail after Assistant District Attorney Mark Schroeder said Patel had a net worth of $400,000 and was a flight risk.

Wisconsin is one of 37 states with a "fetal homicide" law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Under the 1998 law, anyone who attacks a pregnant woman and injures or kills her fetus could face life in prison.

Reporting for Traton News,
Moore and Ingram

TRATON PREVIEW: Upcoming Articles by Traton News

2008-01-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Due to the holiday season, and the vacation schedule of the reporters for Traton News, the articles have been relatively scant during the month of December.

Just to whet the appetite of the Traton News reading audience, here are several articles that are being researched and in the process of preparation for publication in January of 2008.

Traton News has engaged a Ph.D.-level researcher to study the correlation between the location of Georgia's registered sex offenders and several new communities in the metro-Atlanta area. You may be surprised at how many registered sex offenders live close to the new residential developments that were the focus of our study. Stay tuned for the full results of our study.

Traton News has closely followed a lawsuit against one particular Atlanta-area builder. Some of the atrocious behavior by the builder, and its agents, against its own customer may surprise you. Stay tuned for highlights from an in-depth interview with the homeowner involved in that lawsuit.

Traton News continues to follow the housing market and the instability of new residential developments in the wake of the sub-prime crisis. Stay tuned for updates and predictions on the Atlanta housing market, including interview highlights with a Fortune 500 director-level individual who owns his own Internet-based real-estate-advertising company.

Traton News is keeping abreast of continued updates on the law related to the First Amendment and speech on the Internet. Stay tuned to find out whether any ground-breaking advances have been made on this subject.

These, and many other articles, are sure to be informative and evoke strong emotions from our reading audience.

Stay tuned.

Preview prepared by...
Ingram and Moore.

TRATON HEADLINE: Unprecedented Readership Increase for Traton News

2008-01-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

The latest statistics for Traton News shows an unprecedented increase in readership.

December's readership shows an immense jump in readership from that of November. Specifically, December showed almost 400 unique visitors and over 800 page loads. This translates into an almost-six-fold increase in readership.

One factor that has changed from earlier months is that Traton News is now advertising its site so that we can provide quality news articles to more readers.

Having said this, we still attribute our success and popularity to our readers, since such an increase in the popularity of our website could not have been possible without their interest and support.

We look forward to a successful upcoming year, and wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous 2008.

Cheers,

Moore and Ingram

Traton News - Monthly Stats Report 1 Dec - 31 Dec 2007

2008-01-04T12:55:00.001-08:00

Dear Sir/Madam,

Monthly Stats Report: 1 Dec - 31 Dec 2007
Project: Traton News
URL: http://tratonnews.blogspot.com

	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Total	835	382	328	54
Average	27	12	11	2

Date	Page Loads	Unique Visitors	First Time Visitors	Returning Visitors
Sat, 1 Dec	1	1	1	0
Sun, 2 Dec	10	8	6	2
Mon, 3 Dec	11	6	6	0
Tue, 4 Dec	32	10	10	0
Wed, 5 Dec	74	40	39	1
Thu, 6 Dec	22	13	11	2
Fri, 7 Dec	19	14	13	1
Sat, 8 Dec	26	16	14	2
Sun, 9 Dec	9	9	7	2
Mon, 10 Dec	11	9	8	1
Tue, 11 Dec	41	22	20	2
Wed, 12 Dec	66	19	15	4
Thu, 13 Dec	63	20	15	5
Fri, 14 Dec	73	19	14	5
Sat, 15 Dec	63	16	12	4
Sun, 16 Dec	57	18	13	5
Mon, 17 Dec	27	13	12	1
Tue, 18 Dec	65	18	12	6
Wed, 19 Dec	15	12	11	1
Thu, 20 Dec	4	2	2	0
Fri, 21 Dec	3	2	2	0
Sat, 22 Dec	10	8	7	1
Sun, 23 Dec	10	6	5	1
Mon, 24 Dec	9	7	6	1
Tue, 25 Dec	9	5	4	1
Wed, 26 Dec	21	12	11	1
Thu, 27 Dec	9	9	7	2
Fri, 28 Dec	19	12	10	2
Sat, 29 Dec	19	12	12	0
Sun, 30 Dec	8	8	8	0
Mon, 31 Dec	29	16	15	1

TRATON HEADLINE: Traton News Readership Holding Steady for November

2008-01-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

The November statistics for Traton News, LLC, shows that the stream of Internet traffic is holding steady. While we expected November to be a relatively slow month (because of the Thanksgiving holiday and people's busy schedules), we were pleasantly surprised to find that the readership remained steady.

In short, November showed 67 unique visitors with over 200 page loads.

We again thank all of the readers for their support.

Cheers,
Ingram and Moore.