Archives par mot-clé : video

Man in custody confesses to ‘participation’ in killing four missing in Pennsylvania, attorney says

Video Marketing, , , ,

SOLEBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Jimi Patrick was the first to go missing.

The 19-year-old vanished last week. Days later, three other young men — all between the ages of 19 and 22 — also disappeared, setting off an intensive, grueling search at a farm here in the rolling country north of Philadelphia.

The search took a series of grim turns Thursday, as authorities said cadaver dogs had led them to the body of one of the missing men at the bottom of a 12-foot grave. There, police found other human remains that have not been publicly identified. Hours later, a 20-year-old man who police had considered a person of interest confessed to playing a role in the slaying of the four missing men, according to his attorney.

Prosecutors had vowed to bring answers to the families of those who had disappeared, a mystery that has gripped Bucks County.

“This painstaking process will go on,” Matthew D. Weintraub, the county’s district attorney, said at a briefing Thursday. “We’re going to bring each and every one of these lost boys home to their families one way or another. We will not rest until we do that.”

[Man confesses to role in killing four missing Pennsylvania men, attorney says]

Investigators had focused their search on a property a few miles from the Delaware River, a farm owned by the parents of Cosmo DiNardo, the man who has been identified as a “person of interest” in the case. DiNardo was arrested Wednesday and accused of stealing and trying to sell a car belonging to one of the missing men, and he was being held in jail on $5 million cash bail after being deemed a flight risk.

On Thursday, DiNardo confessed to his role in the homicides, one of his attorneys said.

“He confessed to his participation or commission in the murders of four young men,” Paul Lang, one of Dinardo’s defense lawyers, told reporters. “In exchange for that confession, Mr. DiNardo was promised by the district attorney that he will spare his life by not invoking the death penalty.”

It is unclear whether others participated in the slayings, and a spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on Lang’s statements. Early Thursday evening the extent and conditions of the apparent plea deal remained unknown, and DiNardo had not been charged in connection with the slayings.

DiNardo apologized to relatives of the victims on Thursday as he left the county courthouse. Reporters asked DiNardo, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit and had his hands shackled, what he would say to the relatives of the victims.

“I’m sorry,” DiNardo said before climbing into a police vehicle.

DiNardo has a history of unspecified mental illness, and he was previously involuntarily committed to a mental health institution after firing a shotgun, authorities said. No one answered when a Washington Post reporter visited an address listed for DiNardo in court filings, a large house with a swimming pool on a quiet cul-de-sac. A neighbor said DiNardo was one of four children.


Matthew Weintraub, District Attorney for Bucks County, Pa., speaks with members of the media in New Hope, Pa., on Thursday. (Matt Rourke/AP)

Many questions still remained in the case, including precisely how DiNardo is connected to the four men — who, one by one, began to disappear last week — or why they might have been at the farm.

Authorities were making good progress there among the farm’s dirt roads and knee-high corn Thursday, Weintraub said, though he declined to elaborate. Weintraub said law enforcement officers scouring the farm were enduring “incredibly stifling heat” as they searched, saying that the hole where the remains were found was 12 feet deep “and getting deeper.”

Not far from the property — owned by DiNardo’s parents, Antonio and Sandra, according to prosecutors — shops line Route 202 in one of the most historic and pastoral parts of America. “Fresh Eggs: 1000 feet” says one sign. “Organic Farm: Do not spray,” says another.

Bucks County District Attorney’s Office photos show L-R, top row: Dean Finocchiaro, 18, and Tom Meo, 21, L-R bottom row: Jimi Patrick, 19, and Mark Sturgis, 22. All four of the men went missing. (Handout/Reuters)

Drone footage shows that the search teams have been working under a large tent, obscured by trees from the main road and the side roads. The farm is a few miles west of New Hope, a historic town that draws a heavy tourist crowd looking for antiques and vintage clothing. The two-lane road between New Hope and the county seat of Doylestown has numerous antique stories and a place called Peddler’s Village.

Traffic on the road is relatively heavy — because this rural place wants to be found by tourists. Locals say they’re not alarmed, even as they say things like this — a sprawling murder mystery — just don’t happen in that area.

James Jackman, a 19-year-old who works at Antiques At the Old Church, right next to the farm, said to have a homicide investigation in this part of Pennsylvania is “definitely out of character.”

The case so far is shot through with questions of motive, method and timing. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a man who lives near the property said he had heard gunshots on Friday night and had given surveillance footage to police.

“It’s been crazy,” said a neighbor who lives near the farm, declining to be identified because of the nature of the case. “It’s all a mystery.”

Patrick was last seen July 5. His family released a statement Thursday describing him as a longtime baseball player — an excellent pitcher and hitter, they said — who recently finished his freshman year at Loyola University in Baltimore. The school hosted a prayer service for him Wednesday.

Early Thursday, Weintraub said authorities had identified the body of Dean Finocchiaro, 19, in the common grave. Thomas Meo, 21, and Mark Sturgis, 22, also remain missing. Weintraub said officials had classified the case as a homicide investigation, “we just don’t know how many homicides.” He did not say how Finocchiaro was killed.

Authorities said they have determined more information about relationships between the men than they have made public, but details have begun to emerge in court filings, news reports and social media postings.

Meo and Sturgis — who are good friends and work together, according to court records — first met DiNardo when he was looking to sell marijuana to them, one of Meo’s friends told the Philadelphia Inquirer. DiNardo and Patrick both went to Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem, Pa., while DiNardo and Finocchiaro had both posted on a Facebook page for buying and selling ATVs, the newspaper reported.

Meo’s girlfriend last heard from him in a text message on July 7, according to court records, and he did not show up for work on July 8. That same day, his mother reported him missing. Sturgis was last seen July 7, court records show. He also did not show up for work July 8 and was reported missing the next day.

This photo provided by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office in Doylestown, Pa., shows Cosmo DiNardo, who was arrested Monday. His lawyer says he confessed to taking part in the slayings of four men. (Uncredited/AP)

On July 9, cars belonging to Meo and Sturgis were found about two miles apart. That same day, Bucks County detectives interviewed a man from Bensalem, Pa., who said that DiNardo had offered to sell him an older model Nissan Maxima for $500.

Detectives wrote that they believe DiNardo had illegally taken Meo’s car, and they said Meo’s insulin kit — needed to treat his diabetes — was found inside. Meo could not survive without the insulin kit, Weintraub’s office said.

DiNardo was arrested Wednesday and charged with trying to sell Meo’s car, a 1996 Nissan Maxima with Pennsylvania plates. As of Thursday evening, he had not yet been charged in the slayings.

Weintraub said DiNardo remained a person of interest on Thursday, but the prosecutor emphasized that the investigation is “wide open.”

“We don’t pick a person and then try to build a case around that person,” Weintraub said at a news briefing. “That’s not fair to anyone. As of this moment, he remains a person of interest. But if others arise and we can name them, we will.”

Neighbors on the cul-de-sac where DiNardo lives described him as a good kid who went out of his way to help others — such as volunteering to shovel them out during snowstorms and refusing payment — noting that the slayings were shocking.

“Beautiful family,” said a neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t know what went wrong with the kid. Great kid. Just saw him last week. Never a sign of problems.”

The FBI is assisting the Bucks County prosecutor’s office with the investigation, sending out an evidence response team and helping local detectives manage incoming tips, a bureau spokesman said.

Though DiNardo’s attorney said he confessed to avoid the death penalty, the practice is rarely used in Pennsylvania, with just three executions since 1976, among the fewest of any state with capital punishment during that period. In 2015, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced a death penalty moratorium that remains in place.

Berman reported from Washington. Samantha Schmidt, Alice Crites, Emma Ockerman and Abigail Hauslohner in Washington contributed to this report.

Revised Senate health-care bill still lacks the votes to pass

Video Marketing, , , ,

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released a new proposal to overhaul the Affordable Care Act on Thursday after spending three weeks reworking it to win over wavering lawmakers on the right and in the center.

But within hours, it was clear that Senate leaders still didn’t have the votes to fulfill their long-standing quest to replace former president Barack Obama’s 2010 health-care law.

The new draft would lift many of the ACA’s regulatory requirements, allowing insurers to offer bare-bones policies without coverage for services such as preventive or mental health care. It would also direct billions of dollars to help lower- and middle-income Americans buy plans on the private market.

However, the draft leaves in place deep proposed cuts to Medicaid — and at least three Republicans quickly stated that they remain opposed, casting doubt on McConnell’s plans to pass the bill next week.

“This is not what the American people expect of us, and it’s not what they deserve,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the three senators who said they oppose McConnell’s new bill.

What the Senate bill changes about Obamacare View Graphic What the Senate bill changes about Obamacare

The GOP’s continuing push — and continuing struggle — to make good on a campaign promise it began invoking seven years ago to “repeal and replace” Obamacare reflected the peril Republicans face whether they pass a bill or not.

On the one hand, the ACA has provided medical coverage for millions of Americans — and has grown more popular as a result. Moderate Republicans remained concerned Thursday that the new proposal would make insurance unaffordable for some middle-income Americans and throw millions off the rolls of Medicaid, the public insurance for disabled and low-income Americans.

Yet conservatives continued to push for a more wholesale rollback of the ACA — highlighting the danger for all Republicans of failing to achieve a promise most of them made on the campaign trail.

“The new Senate health care bill is substantially different from the version released last month, and it is unclear to me whether it has improved,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a conservative who has pushed for a full Obamacare repeal, said in a statement. “I will need time to study the new version and speak with experts about whether it does enough to lower health insurance premiums for middle class families.”

Looming even larger was the reality that Republicans, despite their control of both chambers of Congress and with President Trump in the White House, have made little progress on an ambitious agenda that McConnell had hoped to move on to next week after a vote on the health-care bill. Among their goals are major tax legislation, raising the debt ceiling and passing a defense authorization bill.

Republican leaders seemed to acknowledge Thursday the difficult path ahead, with several speaking privately about internal divisions on how to pass the bill — and to prevent further defections.

“We will have the votes when we start voting,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.).

Which GOP senators have concerns with the health-care bill View Graphic Which GOP senators have concerns with the health-care bill

McConnell’s new draft was the result of weeks of negotiations with conservatives and moderates. For those on the right, the plan incorporated a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) allowing insurers to offer minimalist policies as long as they offer more-comprehensive ones as well. Cruz said the provision would give consumers greater choice and lower-cost premiums.

For those in the center, the new proposal would spend an additional $70 billion offsetting consumers’ costs and $45 billion to treat opioid addiction.

Republicans financed these changes by keeping a trio of Obamacare taxes targeting high-earners — a 3.8 percent tax on net investment income and a 0.9 percent Medicare payroll tax on individuals making $200,000 a year or couples earning $250,000, along with a tax on insurers with high-paid executives. Lawmakers such as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said repealing those taxes would give too much relief to the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

The new measure has won Cruz’s backing, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), another conservative who said the measure still does not do enough to unravel Obamacare, remained opposed to voting on the bill, as did two centrists, McCain and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

“My strong intention and current inclination is to vote no on the motion to proceed,” Collins told reporters, referring to the procedural vote required before the legislation can reach the Senate floor. Collins added that she hopes Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) will be willing to work with Republicans to fix the legislation. “I have had numerous Democrats come to me and say they want to work with us on the bill,” she said. “I’m going to take them at their word.”

Even as McConnell negotiated with individual members, the outlook for the bill was complicated when Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) debuted an alternative proposal.

In a joint interview with CNN on Thursday, Cassidy and Graham said they would take the billions of dollars the federal government now receives in taxes under the ACA and direct that revenue to the states.

The plan did not appear to be gaining traction — Graham said he would vote to start debate on McConnell’s bill — but its introduction underscored the extent to which a growing number of GOP senators have started looking beyond the current effort, with diminishing confidence that it will prevail.

“I don’t see this as the end if this bill were not to pass,” Collins said. “I see it as the beginning of the kind of process that I would have liked to have seen in the first place.”

The surprise announcement from Graham and Cassidy came just before Senate GOP leaders released their revised health-care proposal.

The McConnell plan would allow Americans to pay for premiums with money from tax-exempt health savings accounts, an idea that many conservatives have pushed for — a tax break that primarily would benefit the upper middle class.

The plan’s proposed rollback of Medicaid expansion under the ACA, as well as a proposal to slow the overall growth of the program starting in 2025, gave a number of Republican moderates pause Thursday.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who came out against the original draft of the bill, said he was not yet willing to vote yes to move the bill to the floor. “I’m in the same position I’ve been in, looking at the language and looking forward to the analysis,” he said.

Cassidy and Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said they need to see the Congressional Budget Office score, due next week, before making a decision.

“We are going to look at it, read it, understand it and see the CBO score,” Hoeven told reporters. He said that he was encouraged by changes intended to help lower-income Americans but that, “at this point, I’m reserving judgment.”

In a sign of the challenge McConnell still faces to round up votes, he huddled Thursday afternoon in his office with Portman and Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Those lawmakers hail from states that have extended Medicaid under the current law to cover able-bodied, childless adults. Capito, who opposed the earlier bill, said in a statement she still has “serious concerns” about the revised draft.

With Vice President Pence prepared to cast a tiebreaking vote and no Democrats expected to support the bill, Republicans need the support of 50 of their 52 members to pass the legislation.

Senate leaders and Trump officials are aware that moderate Republican holdouts may be the bill’s biggest threat.

Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, made a presentation to a group of Republican senators from Medicaid-expansion states Thursday afternoon. She promised to do everything possible to minimize the number of uninsured, by giving states maximum flexibility in how they could use some of the money from the bill’s $182 billion state stabilization fund.

Nearly 15 million Americans would lose their Medicaid coverage by 2026 under the Senate bill, according to the CBO. Verma sought to minimize that outlook, saying states could use the stabilization funding to heavily subsidize private coverage for these Americans — even though the size of the fund does not come close to the bill’s $772 billion in cuts to the program over the next decade.

Cruz said the new bill was a “substantial improvement” over the first version and argued that a focus on reducing premiums was the best way to unite fractured Republicans. He touted his proposal as means of accomplishing both.

“It’s not what the federal government mandates you have to buy — it’s your choice what health insurance is the best for you and your family,” Cruz said.

Critics, including insurers, say that providing the option of skimpier plans would draw younger, healthier consumers into a separate risk pool. That development would drive up rates for the Americans buying more-comprehensive coverage on the individual market, which could in turn destabilize the entire market.

The revised bill would establish a $70 billion fund to subsidize insurers providing both kinds of plans “for the associated costs of covering high-risk individuals,” according to a GOP summary of the bill. It would also allow individuals buying catastrophic plans to get a federal tax credit if they would be otherwise eligible, which is now barred under current law.

Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in an interview that “healthy people could end up with much lower premiums,” on the private insurance market, though the proposal’s regulatory changes could upend coverage for those with costly medical conditions.

“There are many provisions in this bill that destabilize the individual insurance,” he said. “Then it attempts to restabilize it by funneling an enormous amount of money to insurers.”

The Senate bill also includes a limited exemption for members of Congress, which Republicans said was due to procedural limitations in Senate budget rules. Cruz introduced a measure to strike the exemption Thursday afternoon, saying in a statement, “While this exemption was included in the Senate health care bill out of procedural necessity, we must still be diligent in ensuring that Members of Congress are treated just like other Americans under this law.”

Senate leaders are leaving themselves the option of jettisoning the Cruz proposal after they get the nonpartisan CBO score, which will gauge the Cruz amendment’s impact on the budget and the overall number of uninsured.

Cornyn said Thursday that he expects the CBO will release two scores for the bill but would not confirm what those scores would include or when they will be released.

“We are expecting a CBO score, but I can’t tell you exactly what the format will be,” Cornyn told reporters, adding that the Cruz amendment would be scored.

Paige Winfield Cunningham and David Weigel contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost

The 3 Ways Branding Impacts Video Games

Video Marketing,


The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Branding is a major part of marketing in any industry, and the game industry is no exception. For today’s post, I want to talk about how there are three kinds of video game branding, and what they mean for your studio.

video game branding

1: Mascot-Driven

The earliest and easily most recognizable form of branding is mascots. From the days of Mickey Mouse to the Minions, character/mascots are an easy way to see the power of branding. Having a face/character to associate to a brand provides something instantly recognizable.

During the ’80s into the early ’00s, the game industry was focused on mascots; especially with platformers. Everyone wanted the next big mascot-driven game and to knock Mario and Sonic off of their perches. If you can get a character that becomes popular, you can easily license it to all manner of products.

Mascot characters are the most adaptable of brands when it comes to different games. The character in question will dictate what games they’ll fit best into. Putting Mario in the Olympic Games is one thing; putting Master Chief into an E-rated platformer is another. The key problem with mascot brands is that their following is limited based on the people who like the mascot; with the game being secondary.

For a far more lucrative option, we turn to franchise branding.

2: Franchises

Franchise branding is when the series itself becomes a brand. Mega franchises like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto have left big impacts on pop culture and the audience. People know when they see a game from any of these franchises what to expect, and they are more than happy to put out the money for their favorite series.

Publishers love franchise branding, as it presents a known in the game market. If the first game in a series sold X, then subsequent games should sell around that amount or more. Sequels are also easier to design in the sense that the foundation is already done; now the designer has to iterate instead of start from scratch.

The problems with franchise branding is that it becomes harder and harder to keep things going. While the mascot brands have some impact on the design, the franchise has complete control. Once you have established the design, then that’s what you’re going to be doing from that point on.

video game branding
Franchise branding can lead to massive profits, but pigeonholes the design of the series

There is also the added pressure from the publisher to keep pushing the franchise up and up; even if it betrays the brand. Dead Space is the infamous example of this, as EA was expecting way too much from the horror design.

The line between growing the brand and going too far away can be thin for some designs. For our last point, I want to talk about what we’re seeing out of the Indie space and the top AAA studios.

3: Studio

Studio branding is when the game company itself becomes a brand. In this case the consumer is interested in the work from the studio more than just the game itself. Companies like Valve, Blizzard and Nintendo have each made a name for themselves. You know when a studio has reached this level when any announcement from them is met with instant coverage.

Many indie companies have become brands onto themselves, thanks to releasing consistently good games. Klei Entertainment has made multiple games of different genres, but each one carries the studio’s distinct charm and branding.

Getting to the point where your studio itself becomes a brand depends on a combination of factors: How good are the games being put out? Are there any people in your studio that have become recognizable to gamers? Are your games visually or design-wise unique enough to stand out from everyone else?

Studio branding is the hardest of the three to achieve, but easily the most rewarding. Building a fan base that is not just interested in one game, but anything you put out is amazing. Not only that, but it creates a consumer group that is actively interested in seeing you succeed, and will help get the word out about your game.

video game branding
Studio branding takes a lot of time and effort, can be worth it for future titles and support

The downside should be obvious: If you betray your own studio branding and your consumers turn on you, then you might as well just close your studio. Fans can be your best cheerleaders or your worst enemies if you give them a reason. Destroying your studio branding is career suicide, and unrecoverable.

The Power of Branding:

Regardless of what kind of branding you’re aiming for with your studio, the advantages are too big to ignore. Any kind of recognition is huge for discoverability and will make it easier to sell subsequent games.

Building a brand takes time and effort to do, but it is an excellent goal to shoot for no matter who you are in the Game Industry.

The 3 Ways Branding Impacts Video Games

Video Marketing,


The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community.
The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Branding is a major part of marketing in any industry, and the game industry is no exception. For today’s post, I want to talk about how there are three kinds of video game branding, and what they mean for your studio.

video game branding

1: Mascot-Driven

The earliest and easily most recognizable form of branding is mascots. From the days of Mickey Mouse to the Minions, character/mascots are an easy way to see the power of branding. Having a face/character to associate to a brand provides something instantly recognizable.

During the ’80s into the early ’00s, the game industry was focused on mascots; especially with platformers. Everyone wanted the next big mascot-driven game and to knock Mario and Sonic off of their perches. If you can get a character that becomes popular, you can easily license it to all manner of products.

Mascot characters are the most adaptable of brands when it comes to different games. The character in question will dictate what games they’ll fit best into. Putting Mario in the Olympic Games is one thing; putting Master Chief into an E-rated platformer is another. The key problem with mascot brands is that their following is limited based on the people who like the mascot; with the game being secondary.

For a far more lucrative option, we turn to franchise branding.

2: Franchises

Franchise branding is when the series itself becomes a brand. Mega franchises like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto have left big impacts on pop culture and the audience. People know when they see a game from any of these franchises what to expect, and they are more than happy to put out the money for their favorite series.

Publishers love franchise branding, as it presents a known in the game market. If the first game in a series sold X, then subsequent games should sell around that amount or more. Sequels are also easier to design in the sense that the foundation is already done; now the designer has to iterate instead of start from scratch.

The problems with franchise branding is that it becomes harder and harder to keep things going. While the mascot brands have some impact on the design, the franchise has complete control. Once you have established the design, then that’s what you’re going to be doing from that point on.

video game branding
Franchise branding can lead to massive profits, but pigeonholes the design of the series

There is also the added pressure from the publisher to keep pushing the franchise up and up; even if it betrays the brand. Dead Space is the infamous example of this, as EA was expecting way too much from the horror design.

The line between growing the brand and going too far away can be thin for some designs. For our last point, I want to talk about what we’re seeing out of the Indie space and the top AAA studios.

3: Studio

Studio branding is when the game company itself becomes a brand. In this case the consumer is interested in the work from the studio more than just the game itself. Companies like Valve, Blizzard and Nintendo have each made a name for themselves. You know when a studio has reached this level when any announcement from them is met with instant coverage.

Many indie companies have become brands onto themselves, thanks to releasing consistently good games. Klei Entertainment has made multiple games of different genres, but each one carries the studio’s distinct charm and branding.

Getting to the point where your studio itself becomes a brand depends on a combination of factors: How good are the games being put out? Are there any people in your studio that have become recognizable to gamers? Are your games visually or design-wise unique enough to stand out from everyone else?

Studio branding is the hardest of the three to achieve, but easily the most rewarding. Building a fan base that is not just interested in one game, but anything you put out is amazing. Not only that, but it creates a consumer group that is actively interested in seeing you succeed, and will help get the word out about your game.

video game branding
Studio branding takes a lot of time and effort, can be worth it for future titles and support

The downside should be obvious: If you betray your own studio branding and your consumers turn on you, then you might as well just close your studio. Fans can be your best cheerleaders or your worst enemies if you give them a reason. Destroying your studio branding is career suicide, and unrecoverable.

The Power of Branding:

Regardless of what kind of branding you’re aiming for with your studio, the advantages are too big to ignore. Any kind of recognition is huge for discoverability and will make it easier to sell subsequent games.

Building a brand takes time and effort to do, but it is an excellent goal to shoot for no matter who you are in the Game Industry.

GRX Marketing and Creative Pharmacist Announce Partnership on …

Video Marketing,

GRX Marketing and Creative Pharmacist announce they have formed an
exclusive partnership. The partnership aims to bring a new video
marketing service for independent pharmacy owners to utilize on their
digital media platforms. GRX Marketing is a leading provider of
customized marketing solutions to independents, and Creative Pharmacist
are pioneers in the industry in providing clinical pharmacy solutions
for this market.

Video has gained popularity in marketing to consumers, and become a
viable way for businesses not only to sell, but educate consumers as
well. According to Animoto, 95% of viewers retain a message they watch
compared to only 10% seeing it in text.

Through this partnership, independent pharmacy owners can receive
high-quality, educational videos, created by the Creative Pharmacist
team, to market their services via social media, on their website, or
through email campaigns. « In today’s landscape, utilizing video
marketing within the pharmacy’s social media and web campaigns is
vital, » said David Pope, PharmD, CDE, Chief of Innovation at Creative
Pharmacist. « The combination of our technology and targeted videos with
the expertise of the team at GRX Marketing will be a powerful resource
for pharmacies looking to take the next step in their marketing efforts. »

GRX Marketing will execute the marketing of the videos, on the various
platforms on the owner’s behalf, allowing them to easily promote their
services without the burden of writing, creating and marketing the
videos. ‘We are thrilled with to team up with Creative Pharmacist, as we
are always looking for new, initiative ways for our clients to promote
their services, and this partnership provides that unique opportunity,”
states Nicolle McClure, President of GRX Marketing.

GRX Marketing, part of GRX Holdings, LLC is in West Des Moines, IA. The
company is also the single overall owner of 20 independent pharmacy
locations in the central Iowa area. For more information about GRX
Marketing, visit www.pharmacymarketing.com.

Creative Pharmacist was co-founded by a community pharmacist and a
technology expert in 2008, Creative Pharmacist, developer of the STRAND®
clinical platform, is the U.S. market leader in helping pharmacists
launch clinical services within their community. They support community
pharmacists across the country in engaging patients with chronic
disease, such as diabetes, through STRAND®, a wide-reaching
intervention, documentation, and education platform capable of
developing the new Pharmacist eCare plan. Their mission is to transform
the community pharmacy marketplace by inspiring and empowering
pharmacists to engage clinical pharmacy practice to improve both the
health of their business and the health of their patients. For more
information, please visit: www.creativepharmacist.com.

View source version on businesswire.com:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170713005057/en/

Business Wire
www.businesswire.com

Last updated on: 13/07/2017

GRX Marketing and Creative Pharmacist Announce Partnership on …

Video Marketing,

GRX Marketing and Creative Pharmacist announce they have formed an
exclusive partnership. The partnership aims to bring a new video
marketing service for independent pharmacy owners to utilize on their
digital media platforms. GRX Marketing is a leading provider of
customized marketing solutions to independents, and Creative Pharmacist
are pioneers in the industry in providing clinical pharmacy solutions
for this market.

Video has gained popularity in marketing to consumers, and become a
viable way for businesses not only to sell, but educate consumers as
well. According to Animoto, 95% of viewers retain a message they watch
compared to only 10% seeing it in text.

Through this partnership, independent pharmacy owners can receive
high-quality, educational videos, created by the Creative Pharmacist
team, to market their services via social media, on their website, or
through email campaigns. « In today’s landscape, utilizing video
marketing within the pharmacy’s social media and web campaigns is
vital, » said David Pope, PharmD, CDE, Chief of Innovation at Creative
Pharmacist. « The combination of our technology and targeted videos with
the expertise of the team at GRX Marketing will be a powerful resource
for pharmacies looking to take the next step in their marketing efforts. »

GRX Marketing will execute the marketing of the videos, on the various
platforms on the owner’s behalf, allowing them to easily promote their
services without the burden of writing, creating and marketing the
videos. ‘We are thrilled with to team up with Creative Pharmacist, as we
are always looking for new, initiative ways for our clients to promote
their services, and this partnership provides that unique opportunity,”
states Nicolle McClure, President of GRX Marketing.

GRX Marketing, part of GRX Holdings, LLC is in West Des Moines, IA. The
company is also the single overall owner of 20 independent pharmacy
locations in the central Iowa area. For more information about GRX
Marketing, visit www.pharmacymarketing.com.

Creative Pharmacist was co-founded by a community pharmacist and a
technology expert in 2008, Creative Pharmacist, developer of the STRAND®
clinical platform, is the U.S. market leader in helping pharmacists
launch clinical services within their community. They support community
pharmacists across the country in engaging patients with chronic
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Last updated on: 13/07/2017

Selena Gomez Was the Mastermind Behind the Same-Sex "Bad Liar" Love Story & We’re Dying to See What’s Next In … – J

Video Marketing,

Selena Gomez‘s highly anticipated new single « Fetish » has arrived and while it’s such a cool vibe, unlike anything she’s done before, it also serves as the next installment in this latest chapter of her music career. She gave us « Bad Liar » and that jam had hands down one of her all-time best music videos to ago along with it and Fetish as we know is the next part of this story.

Fans were once again blown away by Sel’s undeniable talent when she played four different characters in the « Bad Liar » music video. More importantly though, she plays a girl who is coming to terms with her sexuality, who is crushing on her gym coach, who happens to have a flirty relationship with another teacher, who happens to be our protagonist’s own dad. A complicated love triangle to say the least, characters Selena each brings to life mind you.

Slena 6

But it’s a storyline that the video’s director, Jesse Perez, admitted Selena insisted on.

Selena 5

« She brought on this idea that somewhere within this love triangle is lesbian attraction. It just gave me another reason to do it — acknowledging that it’s not just heterosexuals in the world, » Jesse told Billboard.

So conveying such a powerful message in her music video all came from the woman herself. Selena is all about using her massive platform for good and by showcasing a different type of love story that frankly should be showcased in more mainstream media for the first time in any of her work, is why she’s the best. The music video for the new track hasn’t arrived just yet, but the audio only version of the video is here and it simply focuses on Selena’s lips as she sings the lyrics to the tune.

An interesting way to introduce the song, that’s for sure! And the lyrics suggest this complex love story form the Bad Liar video is far from over. Just take a look at the opening verse of the song:

« Take it or leave it

Baby take it or leave it

But I know you won’t leave it

‘Cause I know that you need it

Look in the mirror

When I look in the mirror

Baby I see it clearer

Why you wanna be nearer »

We can already feel the intense drama brewing! It’s going to be cool to see how she takes this song and adds another chapter to the story she started in « Bad Liar. » We’ll be waiting.

Related:

Selena Gomez Was the Mastermind Behind the Same-Sex "Bad Liar" Love Story & We’re Dying to See What’s Next In … – J

Video Marketing,

Selena Gomez‘s highly anticipated new single « Fetish » has arrived and while it’s such a cool vibe, unlike anything she’s done before, it also serves as the next installment in this latest chapter of her music career. She gave us « Bad Liar » and that jam had hands down one of her all-time best music videos to ago along with it and Fetish as we know is the next part of this story.

Fans were once again blown away by Sel’s undeniable talent when she played four different characters in the « Bad Liar » music video. More importantly though, she plays a girl who is coming to terms with her sexuality, who is crushing on her gym coach, who happens to have a flirty relationship with another teacher, who happens to be our protagonist’s own dad. A complicated love triangle to say the least, characters Selena each brings to life mind you.

Slena 6

But it’s a storyline that the video’s director, Jesse Perez, admitted Selena insisted on.

Selena 5

« She brought on this idea that somewhere within this love triangle is lesbian attraction. It just gave me another reason to do it — acknowledging that it’s not just heterosexuals in the world, » Jesse told Billboard.

So conveying such a powerful message in her music video all came from the woman herself. Selena is all about using her massive platform for good and by showcasing a different type of love story that frankly should be showcased in more mainstream media for the first time in any of her work, is why she’s the best. The music video for the new track hasn’t arrived just yet, but the audio only version of the video is here and it simply focuses on Selena’s lips as she sings the lyrics to the tune.

An interesting way to introduce the song, that’s for sure! And the lyrics suggest this complex love story form the Bad Liar video is far from over. Just take a look at the opening verse of the song:

« Take it or leave it

Baby take it or leave it

But I know you won’t leave it

‘Cause I know that you need it

Look in the mirror

When I look in the mirror

Baby I see it clearer

Why you wanna be nearer »

We can already feel the intense drama brewing! It’s going to be cool to see how she takes this song and adds another chapter to the story she started in « Bad Liar. » We’ll be waiting.

Related:

Human Remains Found in Pennsylvania Include Body of One of 4 Missing Men

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Mr. Weintraub said other human remains were also discovered, but he did not say whether they belonged to the three other men.

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The developments on Wednesday signified a major shift in the investigation of the disappearance of the four men over two days last week. The authorities in Bucks County, a fast-growing suburb with rolling hills and vast estates, have called the painstaking search among the largest law enforcement efforts in the county’s history.

The police arrested Mr. DiNardo on Wednesday afternoon, a day after his father paid 10 percent of a $1 million bond to bail him out of the Bucks County Jail on an unrelated felony weapons charge. Mr. Weintraub described Mr. DiNardo as a flight risk, and a judge on Wednesday afternoon set his bail for the new charges, both felonies, at $5 million.

The four men who vanished: Dean Finocchiaro, 19; Tom Meo, 21; Jimi Patrick, 19; and Mark Sturgis, 22.


Bucks County District Attorney’s Office

Mr. Weintraub said early Thursday that detectives were going to “seriously look” at pursuing homicide charges. “We bought ourselves a little bit of time with charging Mr. DiNardo with the stolen car,” he said.

Since Saturday afternoon, they have centered their search on the farm belonging to Mr. DiNardo’s family in Solebury Township, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia.

Aerial photos of the farm on Wednesday showed that the authorities were focusing on a patch of land off a dirt road behind a home, where they erected several large tents and used tarps to collect dirt. Concrete blocks were stacked in a pile nearby.

As the search entered its fifth day on Wednesday, Mr. Weintraub again expressed confidence that the authorities were searching in the right area. The police have cast a wide net, but have devoted the bulk of their resources to the family’s farm because of several clues.

Cosmo DiNardo has been charged with stealing the car of one of the four missing men.


Bucks County District Attorney’s, via Associated Press

“We are going to find something for sure, I have no doubt of that,” Mr. Weintraub said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon near the DiNardo farm. “I cannot really confirm more, but we’ve been utilizing resources that I didn’t even know existed. I’m very encouraged by that, at the least, that we are going to find some finality in this prolonged ordeal.”

On Saturday, the police tracked a signal from the cellphone belonging to Mr. Finocchiaro to the farm. Early Sunday morning, a 1996 Nissan Maxima belonging to another missing man, Tom Meo, 21, was found less than a mile from the farm, at another property owned by the DiNardo family, according to court records. A Nissan sedan owned by Mark Sturgis, 22, was also found Sunday morning, at an outdoor shopping center down the road from the farm. The fourth missing man, Jimi Tar Patrick, 19, was last seen on Wednesday.

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The police started to closely examine Mr. DiNardo’s possible role in their disappearance early on in the search, and Mr. Weintraub first identified him on Tuesday as a “person of interest” in the case. His home in Bensalem Township, about 30 miles from the farm, was searched on Monday, the same day he was arrested on a previously dismissed weapons charge.

The farm in Solebury Township is owned by his parents, Anthony and Sandra DiNardo. Responding to reports that the parents were summoned to a grand jury hearing, Mr. Weintraub declined to discuss whether one was hearing the case.

In addition to the cars’ locations at or near the DiNardo family’s properties, the police said, officers have also uncovered other clues, which came to light in court records on Wednesday.

Shortly before 8 p.m. last Friday, a license plate reader on a Solebury Township police car captured the license plate of a silver Ford truck, which Mr. DiNardo later told the police he was driving that night. Two seconds later, the license plate reader registered Mr. Meo’s Nissan Maxima driving by. That location is about two miles from where Mr. Meo’s car was discovered on Sunday.

Later on Sunday, a friend of Mr. DiNardo’s told the police that he tried to sell him an older model Nissan Maxima, according to court records. An unsigned title for Mr. Meo’s Maxima was found next to the car. “There was no legal exchange of that vehicle,” Mr. Weintraub said.

A diabetic kit belonging to Mr. Meo, who has diabetes, was also found in the car. His parents told the police that their son never traveled without it. Asked if Mr. Meo could survive without it, Mr. Weintraub said on Wednesday, “It is my understanding that he could not, that he would go into diabetic shock.”

The arrest of Mr. DiNardo on Monday stemmed from a February episode in which the police in Bensalem Township found him with a 20-gauge shotgun, according to court records. He was not legally allowed to possess it because he had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.

A judge dismissed that charge in May. But the Bucks County district attorney’s office wanted to pursue the case again and asked the Bensalem police in a June 21 letter to rearrest Mr. DiNardo. They did not arrest him again until on Monday, after detectives were searching his family’s farm.


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Trump’s Nominee to Lead FBI Pledges to Resist White House Pressure

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Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, asked what Mr. Wray would do if the president requested that he take any steps that Mr. Wray believed were illegal.

“First, I would try to talk him out of it,” Mr. Wray said. “If that failed, I would resign.”

He also said he had no doubts about the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the election, a conclusion the president has questioned. He pledged that if confirmed, he would read the classified portions of the assessment as soon as he was sworn in.

Mr. Wray also sought to separate himself from Mr. Comey’s actions, including the former director’s announcement last summer that he would not recommend charges in the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information. Mr. Comey had explained the move as an effort in part to maintain the F.B.I.’s political neutrality, but he was widely criticized for plunging the bureau into the middle of the presidential campaign. Former prosecutors criticized him for making public remarks about Mrs. Clinton’s behavior.

Pressed by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, on how he would have handled the investigation, Mr. Wray said he would not have held a news conference.

“In my experience as a prosecutor and as head of the criminal division, I understand there to be department policies that govern public comments about uncharged individuals,” Mr. Wray said of the Justice Department. “I think those policies are there for a reason, and I would follow those policies.”

Mr. Wray added, “I can’t imagine a situation where, as F.B.I. director, I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talking in detail about it.”

An animated Mr. Graham also touched on the dominant question in Washington since the election: whether associates of Mr. Trump were involved in Russia’s meddling. He read aloud from the latest revelation to make headlines, emails that an intermediary sent in June 2016 to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, promising damaging information about Mrs. Clinton furnished by the Russian government. He then asked Mr. Wray what politicians should do if they received such an offer, suggesting they call the F.B.I.

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“Any threat or effort to interfere with our elections from any nation-state or any nonstate actor is the kind of thing the F.B.I. would want to know,” Mr. Wray said.

Mr. Graham, who has been critical of Russian interference in the election, described the response as a “great answer.”

Mr. Wray also seemed to eager to knock down any suggestion that while he was a top Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration, he was involved in signing off on the C.I.A.’s torture of suspects during its hunt for the planners of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mr. Wray said he played no role in approving the legal rationale for those interrogations, adding that he did not condone torture.

“The F.B.I. is going to play no part in the use of any techniques of that sort,” Mr. Wray said. President Barack Obama barred the use of such interrogation techniques in 2009.

Mr. Wray said he would not duck his responsibilities to uphold the law. He pointed to his record of investigating C.I.A. abuses while he was running the Justice Department’s criminal division from 2003 to 2005. He said he was proud of prosecuting a C.I.A. contractor, David A. Passaro, who had been convicted of beating an Afghan farmer during an interrogation.

Mr. Wray said he had not talked with Mr. Comey in years, but he recounted a now-famous episode when he, along with Mr. Comey and Robert S. Mueller III, now the special counsel investigating the Russian meddling, considered resigning from the Justice Department. In 2004, Mr. Mueller, then the F.B.I. director, and Mr. Comey, who was the deputy attorney general, threatened to quit the Bush administration over a controversial surveillance program. Mr. Wray also offered to join their protest even though he was not read into the highly classified program.

“Knowing those people and having worked side by side with those people and knowing these were hardly shrinking violets in the war on terror, there was no hesitation in my mind as to where I stood,” he said. “I stood with them.”

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Mr. Wray graduated in 1989 from Yale University and earned his law degree in 1992 from Yale Law School. He was hired as a federal prosecutor in Atlanta in 1997 and left the Justice Department in 2005 after rising to the head of the criminal division.

Friends and former colleagues describe Mr. Wray as low-key and understated but exceptionally smart and thoughtful. But Mr. Wray warned those listening to the hearing not to underestimate him because they might view him as “boring,” prompting nods among family members sitting behind him.

“Anybody who does would be making a very grave mistake,” he said. He added that he would resist any political pressure if confirmed.

“I fully understand that this is not a job for the faint of heart,” Mr. Wray said. “I can assure this committee, I am not faint of heart.”


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