Neil Cavuto: John King was right to ask the question.

I don't normally agree with the FOX News hosts a lot, but I do agree with Neil Cavuto on this.

Skyscrapers does not equal prosperity?

You'd think that a skyscraper being constructed means that economic prospects are looking good. But that might not be the case.

The Guardian, The Independent, and a number of other websites around the world, are all reporting the findings of a study by Barclays Capital.

According to that study, there is a link between the building of the world's tallest skyscrapers and the crashes in the stock and property that followed them.

This is not the first time I have heard of this phenomenon.

In an audio presentation that I have come across from 2003, Dr John Demartini mentions exactly the same idea.

And with China and India, two of the "BRIC" nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), both building a lot of skyscrapers, this seems to indicate that we in the so called "developed world" have not much more than a couple of years to turn our recessions around and start growing again, before India and China go into recession. Best case scenario; we have 5 years before this happens. Worst case scenario; 2 years.

Jean Byrne: RTE's Weather In Leather

I have previously posted about a UK weather presenter Joanna Rice who was nicknamed The Weather In Leather.

Well it seems that Joanna has some competition for that title. RTE has a weather presenter by the name of Jean Byrne, who seems to have taken up Joanna's mantle.

I present the following videos as evidence...







...and as further evidence that she enjoys dressing up, here she is in a silver lame dress...



Hmm, I wonder if she is single...

Sources, Stories and Motives: When will websites learn?

I am constantly amazed that in an era when we are supposedly more aware and more discerning about many things, including where we get our news, that a website would take an obviously suspect report and back it up.

News On News basically highlighted Claire Atkinson's reporting at the New York Post on the exodus of talent at CNBC.

Now if that sentence isn't already setting off alarm bells, then it should be.

It's not that the story hasn't got a lot of facts in it. It does. Guy Johnson and Trish Regan have joined Bloomberg, Erin Burnett joined CNN, and Melissa Francis joined Fox Business.

What has got me going is the speculation about CNBC's David Faber being the next one to depart, which is based on absolutely nothing.

If you think about it for a moment, the motive for the story is clear. The New York Post is owned by NewsCorp, the troubled company at the centre of the News Of The World phone hacking scandal.

NewsCorp also owns the Fox Business Channel, who is a direct competitor of... CNBC.

This is the same basic trick that NewsCorp worked so well while they establishing Fox News Channel. Talk down your opposition and slowly build yourselves up.

People are wiser to this trick now. But why News On News didn't spot that obvious conflict of interest, I'm not sure.

D2 Jeans: Administration and Saving stores

This is surprising news to me. I had heard nothing on the news about this chain, so I was surprised when I turned up the story. It seems that for the second time in 2 years, the chain D2 Jeans has entered administration.

The chain came out of the collapse of Fosters Menswear chain back in the 1990s, mixed in with another separate chain of jeans stores. In fact, in Truro, the D2 store replaced the Fosters Menswear store in exactly the same location. It had looked at first like a rebranding, but a closer inspection revealed the store content was quite different.

About a couple of years ago, around the time of the previous entry into administration, that store shut. A new shop opened up a few doors away, after another chain, Wallis, decided to close their stores and moved their Truro operation into the same shop as BHS.

Now thew chain is in administration again, but this time, the Truro shop won't be closing, as that shop, along with Penzance, Newquay, Barnstaple and 16 others, have been bought by Blue Inc.

Blue Inc is another chain of stores that has predominantly mens fashion, with some women's as well. We'll see if this chain does any better.

Iowa Caucus: The early analysis

So far, 88& of precincts have reported, but I think the situation is clear enough for me to come up with my first analysis of the results.

No matter whether Rick Santorum technically finishes first or whether Mitt Romney does, neither candidate can really call it a victory. They've been statistically tied most of the way.

Ron Paul finishing third, just 4% back of the two front runners is very respectable. This could be the platform that Ron Paul has been looking for for years, and it is definitely his best chance of getting to the White House. It's probably also his last chance, as he is 66 now.

Newt Gingrich being placed 4th may not be what he was hoping for, but I'm not sure he'll think the result bad enough to force him to drop out.

Rick Perry coming in 5th, with about 10%. Normally that might be considered bad enough to force a candidate to drop out. But Rick Perry has fundraised a lot of money. Over $15million in fact. His ability to fundraise might just keep him in this.

For the other two in the race, their future seems surprisingly clear. Michele Bachmann in 6th with just 5%, seems destined to drop out. However, she is not known for being able to read the political tea-leaves very well. She may well try to stay in the race, to try and secure a Vice-Presidential nod from one of the other candidates, maybe trying to position herself as a Sarah Palin-esque type candidate, but better, with more experience.

For John Huntsman, in last place with a mere 1%, it is most definitely over. I imagine he will drop out of the race in the next 24-48 hours.

I imagine the next 24 hours will clear up the picture significantly, so I'll be coming back to this story again.

Welcome to 2012

Happy New Year to all my readers here at Viewpoint.

Here's hoping for a great 2012.