Saturday, February 23, 2013

Taiwan-Japan venture to be formed

  • The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday released adjusted statistics on the economic performance of the fourth quarter of ...

  • DPP denies flipflop over Fourth Nuclear Power Plant

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters has answered sharply to an allegation of flip-flopping over the Fourth Nuclear Power ...

  • Taiwan sharemarket extends losses

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI -- Shares in Taiwan extended losses yesterday from a session earlier amid cautious sentiment toward the global economy after Europe and the United States reported downbeat economic data ...

  • Keelung Port pushes to be in Free Trade Zone

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (???) yesterday said it is unreasonable that the minister for the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) suggested ...

  • Migrant workers escape from detention center

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Four Vietnamese migrant workers have escaped from a Nantou detention center while awaiting repatriation, immigration officials said ...

  • Short film promotes awareness of Diaoyutai Island claims MOFA

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday made public a short film as part of its ongoing plan to promote awareness among Taiwanese nationals of the country's ...

  • Weakening yen to intensify competition in food agency

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A weakening yen is expected to intensify competition in Taiwan's food market, said the Industry and Technology Intelligence Service (ITIS) under the Food Industry Research and ...

  • Taiwan-Japan venture to be formed

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Syscom Group (????) yesterday announced plans that it will form a joint venture company with its Japanese partner the Tokai Communications Corporation (TOKAI-COM) to contend ...

  • Taiwan-Japan venture to be formed

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Syscom Group (????) yesterday announced plans that it will form a joint venture company with its Japanese partner the Tokai Communications Corporation (TOKAI-COM) to contend ...

  • Ma should publish Liens China agenda DPP

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged President Ma Ying-jeou to publicize the agenda for Lien Chan's upcoming trip to ...

  • DBS promotions targeting wealth management clients

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    One of the offers targets those who become DBS wealth management clients between now and April 30 and bring in new funds. Those bringing funds of NT$1 million to NT$3 million will get a special ...

  • Global Unichip reports 16 rise in 2012 net profit

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Global Unichip, a designer of integrated circuits (IC), yesterday reported 2012 net profit of NT$612 million, a rise of 16.1 percent year-on-year and the highest in four ...

  • Experts OK new organ donation threshold

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Medical experts agreed on setting the threshold for cardiac death organ donors at five minutes of no detected heartbeats, the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center (TORSC) said ...

  • Telecom accused of undisclosed fees

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A telecom operator has been accused of charging consumers service fees without any advanced notification since 2011, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ho Hsin-chun ...

  • Aide sorry for kicking pregnant woman

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- An assistant to a Taipei city councilor yesterday apologized to the public after video footage released by local media yesterday showed him kicking a pregnant woman during the ...

  • Taipei Tainan mayors call for forgiveness over 228 Incident

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The mayors of Taipei and Tainan both called for forgiveness yesterday as they visited an exhibition on the 228 Incident -- a major political and social event in 1947 which left ...

  • Envoy eyes market for Canadian beef

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI--Canada's top envoy to Taiwan has expressed the hope that Taiwan will lift its ban on Canadian bone-in beef this year, a main topic on the agenda of bilateral trade talks in ...

  • Ex-President Chen wife must serve 20 years court

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Taiwan High Court announced yesterday the verdict that former President Chen Shui-bian must serve a jail term of 20 years plus a fine of NT$250 million while his wife, Wu ...

  • 4 moderate earthquakes shake Eastern Taiwan

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI--A series of four moderate earthquakes jolted Hualien County in East Taiwan early Friday, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, according to the Central Weather Bureau ...

  • CIB cracks down against loan-sharking operators

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) has cracked down a loan-sharking gang that mainly targeted taxi drivers in the Greater Taipei area, arresting 10 people, officials said ...

  • Yin Chen-pong to head Taoyuan Intl Airport Co.

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI--Yin Chen-pong, a former head of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), will soon take over as chairman of Taoyuan International Airport Co., the operator of Taiwan's main ...

  • Amazon UK to sell new HTC One on March 15

    The China Post - Friday 22nd February, 2013

    TAIPEI -- Online retailer Amazon.com Inc.'s United Kingdom website has disclosed the release date and pricing for the HTC One as part of the fastest roll-out for Taiwan-based HTC Corp.'s ...

  • Source: http://www.taipeinews.net/index.php/sid/212764404/scat/0dd057261bcc461b

    colton bo ryan the last waltz earth day activities mel gibson splunk dark shadows

    Friday, February 22, 2013

    NOAA warns man for harassing whale off Florida beach

    By Juan Ortega and Willard Sheperd, NBCMiami.com

    A man has been given a warning letter for harassing a sperm whale that died while languishing off Florida's Pompano Beach two months ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

    In the written warning issued earlier this month, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement told Anthony Armento that he violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits people from harassing, capturing, hunting or killing whales and other marine mammals.

    The alleged harassment occurred the morning of Dec. 16 in the waters off Pompano Beach, when a man was seen getting on top of a sperm whale by a witness, who photographed the bizarre encounter from afar.

    The whale, pronounced dead hours later that day, was thought by marine scientists to have been ailing at sea long before the whale was harassed. Still, responding to reports of the man harassing the whale, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement investigated and said it identified Armento as the violator.


    Video on NBCMiami.com:?NOAA slaps warning on man for harassing whale

    Armento couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, despite a visit to a listed address. The letter stated that he was eligible to appeal the finding within 30 days of receiving the letter, NOAA said.

    The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), enacted in October 1972, was established to protect and conserve marine mammals, according to Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal scientist with NOAA.

    "The MMPA is the primary mechanism that we have to manage and conserve marine animals in the United States," Fougeres said. "It does make it illegal to harass, hunt, capture, kill or attempt to do any of those things to a marine mammal."

    Also on NBCMiami.com:?NOAA to look into report of swimmer getting on whale that died

    Violations can result in a civil penalty up to $11,000, as well as criminal penalties up to $100,000 and imprisonment of up to a year or both. Violators include those who approach the marine mammals too closely to watch, feed or swim with them.

    "We recognize that these are important animals in the marine environment, and also animals that the public enjoys seeing in the wild," Fougeres said. "And the act is really primarily to protect them so that we have them around for future generations."

    Also on NBCMiami.com:?Dead sperm whale towed out to sea from Deerfield Beach

    Despite people's fascination with marine mammals, they should not near them for everyone?s safety, Fougeres said.

    "You want to make sure that as you're observing them, you're observing them from a safe distance and in a manner that would not change their natural behavior," Fougeres said.

    In Armento's case, the purpose of NOAA's issuing him a written warning was to document the violation, NOAA said. It also could be used to justify a more severe penalty if any future violations involving him occur, NOAA said.

    "When proceeding with investigations and prosecutions, NOAA considers such things as the violator's intention or state of mind, the effect of a violation on the resource, the need for specific and general deterrence, etc.," NOAA said in a statement. "In this case, after considering the facts of the case, NOAA determined that a written warning was an appropriate outcome."

    Photos provided to NBCMiami.com by a witness showed two swimmers nearing the whale the day of the incident, though only one person was seen in a picture on top of the whale. NOAA on Thursday did not say whether the second swimmer was cited.

    The day of the incident, witness Margie Casey told NBCMiami.com that she saw two swimmers twice go up to the whale. She said she watched them from her fifth-floor balcony and snapped photos of the one swimmer getting on the whale.

    Casey said the whale had been drifting north along the shore, just south of a stretch of beach near the Northeast 14th Street Causeway. Casey said she considered the whale to be alive at the time, because it was flapping its tail. Perhaps the whale was on its "last leg," Casey said in a Dec. 16 interview. "So sad."

    A specialist went into the water later that day and determined the sperm whale had died, officials said. The next day, the dead whale washed up around Deerfield Beach's fishing pier. It then was towed more than five miles out to sea to dispose of its carcass, officials said.

    The Pompano Beach whale case is among the latest in a series of cases in Florida involving the harassment of animals.

    Sunday, a?Fort Pierce, Fla., man was arrested?on the charge he violated Florida law by illegally playing with and handling a manatee calf, then posting Facebook pictures of the encounter, authorities said. And in November last year, a?St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was arrested?on a misdemeanor charge of violating state law by riding a manatee, officials said.

    NOAA encourages anyone who sees possible violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act to report it to NOAA's enforcement hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Anyone who sees a stranded, injured or entangled marine mammal may report it to the Southeast Regional Marine Mammal hotline at 1-877-942-5343.

    Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17058839-noaa-slaps-warning-on-man-for-harassing-whale-off-florida-beach?lite

    international womens day joe the plumber lra lra eric johnson eric johnson big east tournament

    Celebrate Chinese New Year on the ?Golden Walk of Fortune? at Hong Kong Disneyland

    Guests at Hong Kong Disneyland can celebrate Chinese New Year the entire month of February at the park?s ?Golden Walk of Fortune.?
    ?Chinese

    The celebration begins as soon as guests enter the park, where a glittering Mickey Mouse-shaped gold statue welcomes them in Town Square. (The color gold is a theme throughout the celebration, as the color symbolizes prosperity and good fortune). Main Street, U.S.A., will be lined with Chinese New Year d?cor that?s perfect for special photo opportunities. You can also meet Mickey, Minnie, Duffy and other Disney pals in their special gold-trimmed Chinese New Year outfits.

    You can also choose from 50 new merchandise items, including Mickey Family Chinese New Year Lai See Red Packets, fortune-telling sticks, fortune wheels, festive candy boxes and limited-edition crystal embedded watches, which are only available at Hong Kong Disneyland.

    To read more about Hong Kong Disneyland, check out these posts:

    Celebrate Chinese New Year on the ?Golden Walk of Fortune? at Hong Kong Disneyland by Jennifer Fickley-Baker: Originally posted on the Disney Parks Blog


    Disney Parks Blog

    Related Posts:

    Tags: Celebrate, Chinese, Disneyland, Fortune, Golden, Hong, Kong, Walk, Year

    Source: http://www.mickeynews.com/celebrate-chinese-new-year-on-the-golden-walk-of-fortune-at-hong-kong-disneyland.html

    new england patriots Zayn Malik miss america 2013 Oscar Nominations oscars ABC Family social security

    Israel's Dan Meridor on the future of the Likud Party

    JERUSALEM ? Israel's conservative Likud Party may have dominated last month's national elections, but it faces a historic identity crisis that could affect its survival and ability to govern, says longtime Likud member Dan Meridor.

    As a leader of Likud's centrist faction, Meridor, 65, was voted off the party's Knesset slate during the fall primaries, along with other perceived moderates such as Benny Begin, son of the late Likud founder and former Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

    As part of Likud's preelection shift to the right, the party joined forces with the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party of former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to offer a joint list of candidates who were seen as the most hawkish Likud has put forward in years.

    Though Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu won the chance to form the next government, Meridor says voters rejected the party's rightward lurch, leaving Likud with 20 seats today compared with 27 in the last government. Many Likud voters shifted to other parties, such as Yair Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid or Naftali Bennett's nationalist Jewish Home.

    Meridor, who remains the nation's minister of intelligence and atomic energy until a new government is formed, told The Times that he had not given up on the party that swept him out of the Knesset. But he said Likud faced some soul-searching if it wanted to remain one of Israel's largest parties.

    What was the biggest lesson learned about Israeli voters in the Jan. 22 elections?

    There was an attempt to find something new. Something about Lapid and Bennett made them more attractive because they were not yet in politics. Secondly, voters don't like the extremes. As Likud looked less centrist and more right, it lost. Likud lost the center by first going with Lieberman and then voting people like me out in the primary. The public responded by saying they don't want that. Likud is the biggest party, but they lost seats.

    Is there any sense of panic or introspection inside the party about that?

    I can't speak for the Likud leadership now. They preferred other people to me. But I think it's quite clear they changed course and lost the center. Likud has never been an extreme-right-wing party. It's for national causes, but also for the individual: rule of law, constitution, human rights. If Likud keeps moving to the right, they will lose. But if they understand this and go through a soul-searching process, then they may regain the votes. For Likud's soul, character and identity, they need to go back to the center and not compete with the extreme right.

    Is there still a place in Likud for moderates like you?

    This is the question. But I'm not an important story anymore. I tried my best. I made my views known without concern for elections. I stood for my principles and it didn't work for me.

    Many say Likud moderates lost in the primaries because West Bank settlers and other conservatives joined Likud solely to vote moderates like you off the list. Then on election day they voted for other parties.

    This phenomenon was there, but I can't quantify it. There was sort of a hostile takeover. The fact that Benny Begin was voted out alongside me means that it was not only about Palestinians and the peace process.

    Benny is very stern about not giving up an inch [of land], and I think we should have a Palestinian state. We are diametrically opposed on that issue. But both of us are what they call liberals because we stand for rule of law, human rights, respect for decisions of the Supreme Court. Those are basic Likud values.

    It seems like a party with conflicting values. Because of that, Likud was unable to agree on an official platform this election. The party includes moderates like you and, at the same time, newly elected lawmaker Moshe Feiglin, who has spoken about annexing the West Bank and expelling Israeli Arabs. Does Likud still make sense as a single party?

    Well, the Democratic Party in the U.S. at one time had Jesse Jackson and on the other hand Joseph Lieberman. A big party has shades and differences.

    True, but in the U.S. there are two main parties, so they need to serve as an umbrella. In Israel there are dozens of parties, with new flavors created all the time.

    I agree it can reach a point where some people, such as those who were voted in this election, couldn't live ideologically with the people who were voted out. But I have always been in favor of bigger parties, even though that comes at the price of ideological purity.

    There are two trends. One says we have 50 parties and everyone has exactly what he wants. Or you have bigger parties with less certainty or clarity. To govern, we need bigger parties. It's very hard to have a coalition of 10 parties. In a big party, you can allow some differences to play a role, as long as there is a basic common understanding.

    Does that understanding exist in Likud? I'm not even sure if the party officially supports a two-state solution.

    Good question. I've spoken in favor of it for 20 years. Netanyahu joined me four years ago. But you're right, the party as such did not ever take a decision. Even the government did not. It calls for a decision. It's not a minor issue.

    In some ways, this new, more conservative Likud Knesset delegation makes the party look more ...

    More coherent? Maybe. This is an historic choice. I don't like it. Not just because of me. I'm not looking for a job. I could have joined one of the other parties and been in the Knesset. Many offered. But I don't think it's right to jump from one party to another.

    Likud historically was a party that balanced the national and the individual. That's part of its genetic code. Going to one extreme is not Likud. I hope they come back.

    edmund.sanders@latimes.com

    Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/world/~3/IQGcfsSKJ40/la-fg-israel-meridor-qa-20130221,0,7038890.story

    doj dept of justice weather chicago swizz beatz mpaa south carolina debate lauren scruggs

    GEO Group Wikipedia Page Controversy Erased After Football Stadium Naming Deal

    GEO Group Inc., the nation's second-largest private prison conglomerate, has until now mostly kept its brand far from the law-abiding public's consciousness.

    But this week, as the company donated $6 million as part of a naming rights deal for a college football stadium in Florida, brand image apparently became an elevated concern. Following reports in Deadspin, The Huffington Post and the New York Times on the stadium deal between GEO Group and Florida Atlantic University, a page about the company on Wikipedia suddenly came in for an extreme makeover, with all negative references excised.

    A section on the Wikipedia page entitled "controversies," which listed state and federal investigations and lawsuits claiming mistreatment of prisoners in GEO facilities, had disappeared. In its place was a new section, headlined "Quality of Operations," which duplicated language in company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    According to Wikipedia's revision history on the GEO Group entry, someone named Abraham Cohen made substantial changes to the entry Wednesday, deleting references to the controversies and replacing descriptions of the company's operations with text matching that on GEO Group's website. GEO Group employs an Abraham Cohen as a corporate relations manager, according to several articles on the GEO Group's websites, public citations in news articles and a public profile on LinkedIn. Abraham Cohen's LinkedIn profile says he's a Florida Atlantic University graduate and news stories identified him as a former student body president.

    geo group revision

    A spokesman for the GEO Group, Pablo Paez, wrote in an email that the company was "not going to comment on edits to a Wikipedia page," saying GEO has a policy of not addressing "information that is found on Internet sites or social media outlets, particularly those that can be freely updated by a variety of public users." Paez did not respond to follow-up questions about the similarity between the name for the Wikipedia user who altered the website and the corporate relations official employed by company.

    By early Wednesday evening, several Wikipedia editors had made changes to the entry, some registering major concerns with revised language. One editor, Salex1093, wrote in the revision: "If you want to add additional information, it must be from a neutral point of view. Wikipedia refers to the subjects of its articles in the third, not first, person."

    Before Wikipedia editors changed the Geo Group page back to its original form around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Wikipedia placed an alert on top of the GEO Group entry that read: "This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links."

    geo group wikipedia

    Jesse Lava, a HuffPost blogger and campaign director at the Brave New Foundation, a social justice advocacy group, pointed out the Wikipedia revisions in a blog post Wednesday, asking whether it was "an effort to minimize the damage" after increased scrutiny following the stadium deal with Florida Atlantic University.

    GEO Group, a $1.6 billion corporation that manages prisons in the United States, Australia and South Africa, said Tuesday that the $6 million naming rights deal was a purely philanthropic gift to the university's athletic department. Money would go toward scholarships and academic efforts, in addition to needed finances for the stadium, the company said.

    The university, located four miles from the GEO Group headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., announced Tuesday that it would brand its new, 30,000-seat football field GEO Group Stadium.

    Florida Atlantic had been searching for a corporate sponsor for its $70 million stadium since 2011, after borrowing nearly $45 million to pay for construction. In a news release Tuesday, Florida Atlantic President Mary Jane Saunders said it was "so exciting" to have GEO Group's name on the stadium and cited the company's "incredible generosity."

    Several immigrant rights groups condemned the deal Wednesday, questioning why the university would partner with a company that profits from incarceration, including the detention of undocumented immigrants apprehended by the federal government.

    The company has been at the center of several controversies across the U.S., including at a youth detention center in Texas, which was shut down after state inspectors said they found "filthy" and "unsafe" conditions that included feces on walls. Several riots erupted at a GEO-operated federal prison in west Texas that housed mostly undocumented immigrants in 2008 and 2009, following the death of an epileptic inmate who had been left in isolation despite pleas for help.

    "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

    Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/21/geo-group-wikipedia_n_2730220.html

    toysrus how to carve a turkey ipad 2 wal mart happy thanksgiving Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012 Turkey Cooking Times

    Mosquitoes exposed to DEET once are less repelled by it a few hours later, study claims

    Feb. 20, 2013 ? Mosquitoes are able to ignore the smell of the insect repellent DEET within a few hours of being exposed to it, according to research published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by James Logan, Nina Stanczyk and colleagues from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK.

    Though most insects are strongly repelled by the smell of DEET, previous studies by Logan's research group have shown that some flies and mosquitoes carry a genetic change in their odor receptors that makes them insensitive to this smell. The new results reported in the PLOS ONE study uncover a response in mosquitoes based on short-term changes, not genetic ones.

    "Our study shows that the effects of this exposure last up to three hours. We will be doing further research to determine how long the effect lasts," says Logan.

    In this study, the authors tested changes in responses to DEET in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are notorious for biting during the day and are capable of transmitting dengue fever. They found that a brief exposure to DEET was sufficient to make some mosquitoes less sensitive to the repellent. Three hours after the exposure, these mosquitoes were not deterred from seeking attractants like heat and human skin despite the presence of DEET. The researchers found that this insensitivity to the smell could be correlated to a decrease in the sensitivity of odor receptors on the mosquito's antennae following a previous exposure. "We think that the mosquitoes are habituating to the repellent, similar to a phenomenon seen with the human sense of smell also. However, the human olfactory system is very different from a mosquito's, so the mechanism involved in this case is likely to be very different," explains Logan.

    He adds, "This doesn't mean that we should stop using repellents -- on the contrary, DEET is a very good repellent, and is still recommended for use in high risk areas. However, we are keeping a close eye on how mosquitoes can overcome the repellent and ways in which we can combat this."

    Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

    Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


    Story Source:

    The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

    Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


    Journal Reference:

    1. Nina M. Stanczyk, John F. Y. Brookfield, Linda M. Field, James G. Logan. Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Exhibit Decreased Repellency by DEET following Previous Exposure. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e54438 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054438

    Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

    Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

    Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/MeQEiUU0SxU/130220184949.htm

    bishop eddie long madonna give me all your luvin video roseanne barr president green party day 26 new hunger games trailer sasquatch

    Tuesday, February 12, 2013

    Stocks Better Investment Than Homes: Prof. Shiller

    "The CME futures market has [home prices] increasing 1 to 2 percent, in real terms, for the next 5 years," Shiller said, adding that prices could just as easily drop by that amount.

    (Read More: Americans Are Tapping Into Home Equity Again)

    There are a number of factors that could influence housing over the long term, he predicted, such as the direction of the economies of Europe and Asia to the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the mortgage tax deduction in the U.S.

    "What happens to our attitudes toward housing and what kind of housing we want? Maybe we're becoming a more urban society? Maybe we don't care so much about McMansions," he added. "All these things are in the mix."

    (Read More: Housing Already Shows Signs of a New Bubble)

    He also looked to history and questioned whether the American economy can really get moving again in the near term. "After a major financial crisis, we've had a decade of weak performance in the economy. So we may be halfway through a weak period."

    Taken together, he said, "[Housing] is not going to be an exciting market. Excitement will be somewhere else."

    ?By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere; Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC

    Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100449560

    tony parker the five year engagement chris kreider correspondents dinner 2012 white house correspondents dinner 2012 whcd 2012 nfl draft