A slightly salted view of society

Cross posted from perthnow   Leader ... WA still tops the other states in economic growth, including retail spending, unemployment and construction. Picture: Daniel Wilkins   WESTERN Australia is still topping the other states when it comes to economic performance. CommSec's quarterly State of the States report says there's been no slippage in WA's number one ranking, although the Northern Territory has leapfrogged the ACT to become the second-best performing economy, thanks to improvements in business investment and unemployment. Each quarter, CommSec uses eight key indicators to rank the states and territories - economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment, construction work done, population growth, housing finance and dwelling commencements. South Australia and Tasmania were the weakest performers while NSW and Victoria were equal in fifth place. Tasmania lagged behind the other economies on almost all of the indicators...

Title: Nineteen eighty-four Author: George Orwell (pseudonym of Eric Blair) (1903-1950) PART ONE Chapter 1 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation fo...