More bank work to Asia. Which bank is following the competition to India in a cost-cutting drive to outsource workers? Apparently, union heads know but aren’t making a fuss at this stage. We’re looking into it …

New Facebook scam in WA. We’ve also been following a developing Facebook story in the west, where a few users have allegedly taken over a seemingly innocent group to post some unsavoury — and possibly stolen — images of children. We understand police are actively investigating the incident, while Facebook and the FBI have also been informed. Perth media are also on the case but have so far declined to take up the story, preferring to let the police investigation run its course.

Nine News Perth chief-of-staff Alan Gale said on Facebook he is looking forward to running a story on the issue “when or if they are caught”. Crikey did not hear back from a group who have been monitoring the situation this morning. We’re doing the same. Stay tuned.

Try again, nobody is home. It used to be you could correspondent with ex-MPs via Parliament House. “Now it seems,” reports one reader, “they are relegated to oblivion” …

Patches a victim of untrained dogs. It is our sad duty to report the death of beloved pet cat Patches. But owner and Crikey reader Nataha DeSilva is determined the loss will not be vain — and she may have a point. Nataha takes up the story:

“On Saturday our beloved pet cat, Patches, was mauled to death by two unmuzzled greyhounds, who were being walked. They unexpectedly leaped on her while she sat quietly on a brick wall in a suburban street in Moreland. She died an agonising death and we are devastated. The owner alleges her greyhounds are from Greyhound Adoption Program. However, I read an online forum that stated GAP dogs assessed for their ‘green collar’ were tested for predatory behaviour which somehow excluded cats! This criteria is an outrage and has to be changed! This means that all our lovely pets are at risk of being killed by unmuzzled greyhounds passing through our suburban streets. This also proves that assessed greyhounds can revert back to their predatory training. We believe that the owners are to blame, not the dogs.”

Newspaper free-for-all (cont). In our continuing service to inform readers where they can pick up a newspaper for free, two more spies report:

  • Have heard two stories this morning of Courier-Mail giveaways at service stations (BP and Shell). Buy some fuel, get a free paper.
  • Theatre-goers attending Bell Shakespeare’s really-very-good Much Ado About Nothing at the Arts Centre in Melbourne are being handed the following day’s Australian as they emerge from the theatre. The Australian has a sponsorship tie-up with the show.

Bomber is back! Crikey scoop! Writes one clearly well-placed reader: “Quiet soundings are being made … the next prime minister of Australia will be the Hon Kim Beazley AC. The only question is a seat. The constitution allows the G-G to appoint a PM not in the House of Reps and they then have 90 days to find a seat.” You heard it here first, folks.

Spotted: Age ed at home of the Bogan. Paul Ramadge, somewhat embattled editor of The Age but flushed with chutzpah after his very public run-in with News Limited last week, was seen enjoying himself at Fitzroy’s Napier Hotel yesterday afternoon. No word yet on whether Ramadge managed to smash one of the pub’s notorious 1420-calorie Bogan Burgers, but we’ll keep you posted as updates come to hand.