Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is now charged with the task of investigating claims that Scientology is a criminal organization that has sanctioned beatings, imprisonments, forced abortions, sexual abuse and fraud. Those sensational claims were made by South Australian senator Nick Xenophon.

After having received letters from eight former Scientology followers who described to him a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality, Xenophon is pushing for an investigation.

Rudd commented:

These are grave allegations. Many people in Australia have real concerns about Scientology. I share some of those concerns."

However, he added that he did not want to rushy into any judgment on the claims:

"We would like to proceed in a cautious and methodical way in examining those matters...and then we'll decide what, if further, parliamentary action is necessary."

Naturally, the Church of Scientology in Australia has denied teh allegations, describing them as a coordinated effort to discredit the church. They have said, however, that they will cooperate with police if a formal investigation is indeed launched.

If you see Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade coming, you best get out of the way for your own safety. In only the past week, three separate accidents have occurred involving Biden's squadron of vehicles.

According to the Secret Service, a New York City police car working ahead of the VP's motorcade collided with another vehicle Tuesday night. Biden's car was not involved, but two police officers and a cab driver were sent to the hospital with minor injuries.

On Monday, a sheriff's vehicle escorting Biden's motorcade in Albuquerque was hit by a car that went around two units blocking an intersection. A sergeant in the vehicle was injured.

Lastly, a Maryland man was killed last week when he was hit by two Secret Service cars - a limo sometiems used by Biden, and a Chevrolet Suburban used in his motorcade. Biden was not in either vehicle at the time of the accident.

Fierce finger pointing continues unabated in Cleveland as law enforcement and social service agencies, family members, governmental departments, religious institutions, and an entire community attempts to place blame on each other for perhaps the most heinous ongoing crime spree ever perpetrated in the city’s history. The body count of drug-addicted black women currently stands at 11, and now the FBI is involved as attention turns to the vacant house next door to where the first bodies were found. People are praying that no more bodies are discovered, but there is still a long list of Cleveland women missing.

Even Mayor Jackson has a personal connection to the crime since his niece has come forward and admitted that she lived with the alleged killer, Anthony Sowell, for a time last year. The official and community focus, however, still seems to be stuck on exculpation rather than prevention of future tragedies of this kind.

The city prosecutor recently stated that when one woman, Gladys Wade, came forward with charges against Sowell of a attempted rape a few months ago, a city detective said that she wasn’t a credible witness — in spite of blood splatters in the home and other documented evidence. The police chief is now countering that statement by saying that it was the prosecutor, not his detective, who didn’t want to move forward on the case.

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez gave his girlfriend Kate Hudson a ring, but it's not that kind of ring. Days after he and his teammates became World Series champions, A-Rod thanked Kate for supporting him in the stands this year with a gorgeous $39,000 white gold ring.

An insider said of the Louis Vuitton ring, which is set with pink sapphires and diamonds:

"It's a beautiful piece of jewelry. Alex] has a World Series ring, and now she does, too."

Canadian singer Avril Lavigne's marriage was reportedly on the rocks for sometime, and just last month she filed for divorce from Deryck Whibley. Not one to waste any time, she's already found a new man - Wilmer Valderrama, 29.

An insider told the magazine Life & Style:

"They have been friends since working together on Fast Food Nation in 2005, but things heated up last month. One of their first dates was Oct. 29 at Nobu in West Hollywood."

Avril, 25, and Wilmer took their relationship public last Saturday at the LA club Wonderland. A witness says:

"She had her hand on his knee and they were whispering in each other's ear, laughing. They even closed the club, sneaking out just after 2."

An infamous ladies man, Valderrama has been linked in the past to a number of the film and music industry's leading ladies, including: Mandy Moore, Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Ashlee Simpson.

I talked with MMPI’s Mark Falanga after a three hour Council briefing to ask a simple question. Did MMPI expect to build a private medical mart on public land at no cost?

MMPI’s Falanga told Council that among a number of possibilities examined, MMPI wanted to build its Medical Mart on the Mall area between City Hall and the County Courthouse overlooking Lake Erie. Well, who wouldn’t, especially for nothing.

Falanga kept saying that the County was paying the City of Cleveland $20 million, as if that answered my question. The $20 million was for convention center and public auditorium. The latter Falanga has tossed out as useless or worse.

The site originally expected to house MMPI’s Medical Mart was on private land that had to be purchased. MMPI failed to make a deal.

I asked Falanga that since MMPI was rejecting the purchase of private land at St. Clair and Ontario was he now proposing to build it on private government land, the Mall, at no cost. He told Council members that the owners wanted $24 million, a budget breaker, for the St. Clair site.

But he wouldn’t answer my question. He kept dodging it by referring to the $20 million deal between the county and city.

A cost for the city land hardly got mentioned by city officials.

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If you hadn't heard of Facebook or Twitter in 2008, you most certainly did in 2009 with the boom in social networking that has taken place this year. Everyone from college students to your mother has joined. In light of this cultural phenomenon, it's not surprising that the folks at the New Oxford American Dictionary have choosen "unfriend" as their new word of the year.

A post on the Oxford University Press website made the announcement:

"Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary prepares for the holidays by making its biggest announcement of the year. This announcement is usually applauded by some and derided by others and the ongoing conversation it sparks is always a lot of fun, so I encourage you to let us know what you think in the comments. Without further ado, the 2009 Word of the Year is: unfriend."

So the word "unfriend" will now appear in the New Oxford American Dictionary, and its official definition will read as follows:

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

Jim Brown had a bombshell announcement today at at a luncheon of Our Lady by the Wayside. The legendary running back state:

"At this moment, right now Randy Lerner is meeting with one of the great football minds in this country," Brown said in remarks prior to and during the luncheon. "And if things work out, that person will come in to run the football side of the Browns."

When someone in audience asked if it was former Green Bay Packers coach and Seattle Seahawks Mike Holmgren, Brown stated:

"You said it ... and I heard it."

Holmgren has one Super Bowl title under his belt and 3 NFC Championship rings. His career record is 157-100 in the regular season and has experience in the front office with the Seahawks as their GM.