Canadian police have arrested a man in connection with the death of a 23-year-old exchange student who was attacked in her Toronto apartment while a friend in China watched via webcam.
From CNN:
Toronto police arrested Brian Dickson, 29, on Wednesday afternoon and charged him with first degree murder.
Authorities did not say how they tied Dickson to the death of Qian Liu, an exchange student from Beijing.
The suspect is scheduled to make a court appearance Thursday morning.
A 23-year-old exchange student was attacked in her Toronto apartment while a friend in China watched via a computer webcam. She was found dead there hours later.
From CNN:
Toronto Police on Monday identified the student as Qian (Necole) Liu of Beijing. She was talking early Friday morning to a male friend from home when a man allegedly knocked on her door, asking to use her phone, police said in a news release.
The online witness said he saw Liu and the unknown man struggle for a time before the attacker turned off her laptop, the news release said.
The friend in China then started a desperate bid to find out what happened, CNN-affiliate CTV reported.
Ten hours later, police arrived at the basement apartment to find Liu’s dead body, naked from the waist down. Her laptop was missing.
Great opinion piece by John Leicester of the Associated Press today on this topic.
Here’s a link to more information about this story, as well as the photo in question.
From the article:
So Michael Phelps seemingly puffed a pot pipe on his own time. Bad boy.
It would have been a bigger deal had he illegally used marijuana to help his record-breaking Olympic performance in Beijing last summer — toking on a water pipe to cope with the stress of the Water Cube.
But no, Phelps was stupidly — perhaps venally — photographed out of competition at a party apparently taking a misguided step down a path trampled by at least two U.S. presidents and the Woodstock generation that taught its kids that the ’60s were swinging and that weed, for some, was part of the fun.
Yes, drugs ruin many lives, and a South Carolina sheriff is doing his job investigating whether charges are warranted. Phelps escaped with little more than a slap on the wrist from his governing body, USA Swimming. Suspending him from competition for three months still leaves him time to sharpen up for July’s world championships. By then, a lot of this smoke and fire will surely have blown over.
The questions Phelps’ fans and sudden new foes (fair-weather friends?) need to be asking are:
The problem here is not Phelps, but the golden pedestals we build for him and other athletes simply because they swim fast, hit balls out of the park or bend free kicks into goal. By turning sports-people into super-heroes, we’ve set ourselves up for the fall.
Stadiums are more packed than churches. Many spend more on season tickets than they do on giving to charity. Count the number of pages devoted to sports in your newspaper, then count the number for foreign news. Do Manchester United or the Los Angeles Lakers really deserve your attention more than Gaza and global warming?
If anyone has a drug problem it’s us, the sports fans addicted to seeing how far the human body can be pushed, especially when it’s not our own.
Of course, it’s preferable if athletes don’t take performance-enhancing drugs or ruin their young bones and sinews by being pushed beyond the limit, ending their careers before they’ve barely begun. Most definitely, it would be better if sportsmen and women had well-rounded personalities and educations as developed as their muscles, and were not thrown into pools as youngsters and told to swim up and down all day.
But the sorry truth is that many fans don’t really care, as long as their teams and stars give them that buzz of triumph. If, perhaps even when, Phelps scoops up yet more gold medals in 2012 at the London Olympics, his What a Dope! photo in the British tabloid News of the World will be just a hazy memory for those who again will cheer him on. Chest-thump anyone?
Perhaps we’re the potty ones to have become so enamored and expect so much of people whose job happens to be kicking a ball around, getting it through a hoop or, in Phelps’ case, giving fish a run for their money. Surely, there must be more worthy role models out there.
The argument that Phelps is held to higher standards than, say, Janis Joplin, simply because sponsors have paid him megabucks does not hold water either. Sponsors throw cash at people like Phelps because we’re dumb enough to lust after and buy the products our ‘sports heroes’ endorse.
That joke is on us.
First before I go any further in recapping 2008, I want to say thank you to the more than 270,000 people who have taken the time to stop by, read and leave a comment on my site. When I started this blog back in August, I never thought that I would reach 1,000 readers, much less nearly 300,000! It absolutely blows my mind!!!
As most of you already know, I only blog for fun during the spare time I have before work, after work and after the kids have gone to bed at night. I’m not a professional. I don’t break the news, I just pass along stories that I find of interest and hope to spark discussion amongst those who stop by the site. I did get interviewed by MSNBC for an article that came out this week. That was pretty cool, possibly the highlight of my year!
Judging by the number of people who have visited the site, it seems that a lot of you have many of the same interests that I have, and I appreciate you taking the time to read! 
I have enjoyed reading each and every comment that has been left and every email that has been sent to me @ roaddawg33@aol.com. (I read them all and try to respond to all as well) Feel free to drop a line anytime via email or visit me on Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.
I would have to say that the most read stories I have posted this year have been about Casey and Caylee Anthony. This has been a truly sad story from the beginning. The loss of a little girl who none of us knew until July who it seems was taken by her own mother. (Yes, I believe that she did it and more than likely her family knew about it at some point in time).
I have said this before, and I’ll say it again: I wish that I never had to cover this story. I wish that Caylee Anthony was still alive, with a loving family, celebrating the holidays. I wish that she had the opportunity to grow up, go to school, get married and start a family of her own. Having a 3 and 1 year old is the greatest experience I’ve had in my life. I can’t understand how anyone would ever harm their own child. It makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME!
Unfortunately, not all people live with the same morals and values in this life. This has been a tragedy and I hope that closure will come with the trial in 2009 and those who were a part of the death of a sweet, innocent young child, will face the consequences that they deserve.
When I started the blog in August, I thought that I would only be covering politics, music and sports. I went to my fair share of concerts including: Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Gary Allan, LeeAnn Rhimes, Phil Vassar, Lonestar and Luke Bryan. All were great shows and I can’t wait for another lineup of great acts to come through the Bay Area in 2009. Thanks to KRTY for all the great shows at the Rodeo Club! Bring back Phil Vassar!!!! Best show of ’08.
The Olympics took up quite a bit of my time this summer, watching Michael Phelps run for 8 gold medals in Beijing. Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh also dominated Women’s Volleyball again this year (and Misty got her butt slapped by the President) and who can forget the US Dream Team taking home the gold!
The 2008 Presidential race was one for the ages! In the end, Barack Obama defeated his Republican counterpart John McCain in what could be considered a convincing fashion. Saturday Night Live made Tina Fey famous once again for her impressions of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (who’s daughter gave birth to a baby boy this week).
There’s been a lot more this year that I just don’t have time to mention: TechCrunch Vs. PR, The Economy and much, much more. You can take a look back through the archives and see what has been discussed. I know there has been a lot! Thanks again to everyone who has taken time out of their day to stop by Kreuzer’s Korner. I’ll try to keep you updated, as always, with the news that I find interesting next year!
I’ll be heading off to the Seattle/Tacoma Airport tomorrow afternoon (if you can find me, stop by and say hi…Southwest Airlines) to fly back to San Jose after a week in the snowy Pacific Northwest, but not before making a quick trip South to visit client Burgerville for a Pepper Bacon Cheeseburger, French Fries and my favorite: a Vanilla Shake! Centralia…here I come!
Happy New Year Everyone! Here’s to a GREAT 2009!
John Kreuzer
Subway has signed Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Michael Phelps to be its latest athlete-spokesman. The first campaign with Phelps will focus on the quickservice chain’s mix of healthier options, such as grilled chicken on wheat, and indulgences, such as a meatball sub.
Credit: Stuart Ramson
From Advertising Age:
Michael Phelps is racking up endorsements like they’re gold medals. The Olympian has inked a deal with Subway to represent the brand “across all marketing channels” in a campaign touting the chain’s variety of offerings. Mr. Phelps also helps promote Kellogg, Visa, Speedo and Rosetta Stone.
The deal, which locks Mr. Phelps into an exclusive fast-food contract, is surprising because the swimmer openly campaigned for a relationship with McDonald’s during the Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he won an unprecedented eight gold medals. But this isn’t his first surprising endorsement. Mr. Phelps spurned General Mills’ Wheaties in August for an exclusive cereal deal with Kellogg.
“We enjoyed a very positive working relationship with Michael, particularly at the Summer Games in Beijing,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Heidi Barker said in a statement. “As a top Olympics sponsor, we wish Michael and all the Olympics athletes the best in their future endeavors.”
It’s true! Coming off their gold medal victory in Beijing at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor lost for the first time in more than a year today, dropping a 21-19, 10-21, 25-23 decision to Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh at the AVP Crocs Cup Shootout.
Credit: Clive Rose / Getty Images
From the Associated Press:
With the loss, the two-time Olympic champions’ winning streak ended at 112 matches and 19 titles. They last lost on Aug. 19, 2007, also to Branagh and Youngs.
The final took 1 hours, 45 minutes, making it the second longest women’s match in AVP history, missing the record by just a minute. May-Treanor and Walsh dropped to 10-2 in finals matches against Branagh and Youngs.
In the semifinals, May-Treanor and Walsh beat April Ross and Jen Boss 21-14, 23-21, and Youngs and Branagh edged Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davis 20-22, 21-19, 15-11.
Forget eight gold medals, breaking Mark Spitz’s Olympic records and being the toast of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Michael Phelps will be hosting the season opener of Saturday Night Live on September 13.
From the Associated Press:
That’s the question being asked at NBC. Ratings for this year’s Olympics have been some of the greatest of all time. NBC believes that the Beijing games are on pace to be the most-watched Olympics ever.
Credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
From the Associated Press:
Interest in the Olympics is nearly certain to wane, but NBC can already claim its own medal. The games averaged 30 million prime-time viewers over its first eight nights — “American Idol” numbers — and NBC Universal said it has earned more than $10 million since the games began from new advertisers eager to climb on board.
It’s also the first real sign of that broadcast television can recover from its debilitating strike of last winter and produce an event that draws the nation together.
There’s still a good chance NBC will be able to beat the 24.6 million average prime-time viewership of the Athens Games, and the 21.5 million in Sydney in 2000. I can, for one, say that I have been glued to my television set throughout the games this year, unlike in year’s past. Michael Phelps has been a large part of this (both of Phelps photo finishes were unbelievable) but there have been some other great events and stories that have played out which have kept my attention. Here’s to week two being just as good as the first. Thoughts?
Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the gold medal today in the 100-meter dash, setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds. The silver went to Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago while the bronze went to Walter Dix of the United States.
From the New York Times:
Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who has crashed the international sprint scene this year, obliterated his own world record by winning the gold medal in the 100 meters in theatrical fashion Saturday night at the Beijing Olympics.
Starting in Lane 4, Bolt had an average start but blew away the field in the final 50 meters, spreading his arms with three strides to go and pounding his chest before crossing the line in 9.69 seconds. If he had held his form through the tape, he might have run under 9.6.
Next for Bolt is the 200 meters, in which he will be even more of a prohibitive favorite. Carl Lewis was the last sprinter to win both the 100 and 200 in the same Games, at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
American Tyson Gay finished fifth in his semifinal heat and did not qualify for the finals. It’s hard to imagine that the World Record is now under 9.7 seconds! Thoughts?
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