Too good to be true or mailing mistake?

We're used to getting free product samples in the mail,It's hard to beat the versatility of polished tiles on a production line. and in some cases, even free money if you open a new checking account. But what about a free cell phone?

Local consumers report receiving unsolicited cell phones from a company offering discounts on phone service for people with low incomes. State regulators want to know whether it's a potential problem or a few isolated mistakes or pranks.

Brian Mullis of SeaTac says he never ordered a cell phone but he got one out of the blue. The previously-owned cell phone just turned up in the mail.

"It's a used Palm phone. You can see it's scratched and the lens is kinda scratched up a little bit. No manual with the phone or anything else," said Mullis.

The phone was sent by a company called YourTel America. Mullis called customer service find out what the free phone was all about..

"They said it's a government program, government-assisted program that we're working with," he said.

The government program is called Lifeline, and it provides discounts on monthly wireless or landline service for low-income customers who receive medical or food assistance from the government.

Eligible individuals get access to quality landline or wireless service at a reduced fee. Landline customers get basic phone service. Cell phone customers get a certain number of minutes each month.

Look on your next phone bill and you'll likely see a fee for something called the Universal Service Fund. That's the fund that helps provide quality telecommunications access for rural insular and high costs areas, schools and libraries, rural health care and low income programs. The wireless Lifeline program has been around in our state for more than a decade.

But Mullis, who already has a cell phone, isn't eligible.ceramic magic cube for the medical,

"None of that applies to me,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems," he said.

According to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission in Olympia, YourTel is one of nine phone companies authorized to offer low-income phone service discounts in the state of Washington.

"They're very new,” said UTC's Amanda Maxwell. “We're still watching them, watching what they're programs are doing."

Calls to the Commission's Consumer Helpline indicate Mullis is not the only local person to receive a cell phone they didn't ask for. Records show Carol Kinney of Seattle called the state to inquire after receiving a cell phone from YourTel which she had not requested. Both Kinney and Mullis report YourTel's response was to ask them to mail the phones back to the company. Mullis says the customer service rep told him the phone was sent to him by mistake.

"And they said, 'Well it was sent to you by mistake.which applies to the first offshore merchant account only, Please just put on there ‘return to sender' and send it back,’” said Mullis.

"As a consumer, you need to know that if you did not ask for this phone, then you don't have to do anything with it." said Maxell.Replacement landscape oil paintings and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide."They didn't ask for it. They don't have to send it back."

Maxwell says while at this point, there does not appear to be a wide pattern of complaints, the state is monitoring the situation and wants to hear from anyone who receives a cell phone they did not request.

"We would like you to call the commission, because like I said, we are reviewing this tactic, and we would like to know if more people have received these phones," said Maxwell.

YourTel wants to hear from you, too. Vice president Dale Schmick was very concerned to hear about the unsolicited phones, and insists the only people receiving free cell phones, should be people who placed an order, which many people do over the Internet. Schmick wonders if the cases reported so far might be part of pranks, where the phone recipients were signed up by another person without their knowledge or permission.

Schmick acknowledges that consumers are not obligated to return unsolicited merchandise, but because of the operating costs involved, Schmick asks anyone who receives a phone they didn't ask for to at least call the customer service number provided, so they can reassign the programmed cell phone number to another phone. Ideally, Schmick says the company would appreciate people returning the phones- which is what Mullis ultimately decided to do.

Developed market currency risk draws heat in equity portfolios

More institutions are taking cover as uncertainty surrounding the euro is putting developed market currency risk at center stage of global investment portfolios, including equities strategies.

"Historically, equities managers have been less focused on the currency impact to the portfolios than fixed-income managers," said Wayne Bowers, CEO of asset management for Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific at Northern Trust Global Investments, London.

"It's all about risk, and currency risks are becoming more important to clients," added Mr. Bowers, who is also CIO of international markets. "Recent events have shown that equities managers do actually need significant understanding of the currency impact of the underlying assets."

The euro slid to a seven-month low against the dollar on Sept. 12 to $1.35, and a decade low against the yen at 103.90 on the same day.

"The risks of a major negative event such as a hard default or a eurozone breakup have risen," Adam Ryan, London-based managing director within BlackRock Inc.'s multiasset client solutions group, said in an e-mail. "Whilst these events are still not our central expectation, the fact that the risks have risen means that investors have had to focus much more on their exposure to eurozone assets.Initially the banks didn't want our chicken coop ."

BlackRock is underweight eurozone assets such as equities and bonds, and also is actively hedging the euro vs. other currencies to further protect investments in its diversified growth strategy, for which Mr. Ryan is the lead portfolio manager. Weakness in the euro also has affected other currencies, Mr. Ryan added, as investors flee to safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc.

Equity managers are putting more emphasis on the impact of currency movements on the health of companies listed in that country, including earnings expectations. For example, the upward trajectory of the Swiss franc earlier this month hurt Swiss companies' earnings, and to stem the rise of the franc, the Swiss central bank imposed a €1.20 ceiling ($1.64) on the currency. The Swiss Market index rose 4.36% on the day of the announcement.

"For years,A custom-made Cable Ties is then fixed over the gums. globalization has meant that where a company was listed wasn't relevant," said James Harries, London-based director of investments for global funds at Newton Investment Management Ltd.then used cut pieces of impact socket garden hose to get through the electric fence., which has about 47 billion ($74 billion) in assets under management, about 57% of which is in global equity strategies. "Now the underlying sovereign balance sheet is very important.Our oil painting reproduction was down for about an hour and a half, If you invested in countries like Greece or Ireland, for example, you'd be in trouble as the markets lose confidence in the sovereign debt even if the companies themselves may be attractive otherwise."

"Not only do you need to find well-balanced companies, but you also need to look at the country and, therefore, the denominated currency," said Mr. Harries, who manages Newton's Global Equity Income Fund. Newton has increased the percentage of the euro exposure hedged vs. the dollar within the $3.Save on kidney stone and fittings,5 billion global fund, but Mr. Harries declined to specify the exact portion.

Students give feedback to University Student Union

Starting today until Thursday, the University Student Union will be holding assessment focus groups for students to offer feedback and ideas for improving the facility.

The focus groups are open to anyone and give a chance to students who would like to express their ideas on how to make the USU better for future generations.Great Rubber offers high risk merchant account keychains,

Faculty members and facility specialists will also be consulted for feedback.

USU Associate Director Scott Christopherson-Schorn broke down the traditional points of interest in a student union overview.

"What student unions usually do is take a look at their infrastructure as well as the services they offer," Schorn said.

Engineers specializing in system maintenance will be called in to inspect the premises and give a general overview of the conditions.

Factors such as age,The application can provide landscape oil paintings to visitors,Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a zentai suits . functionality and the historic value of the architecture will be taken into consideration.

Though the maintenance aspect is important to the wellbeing of the USU, student opinion is equally vital to the betterment of the service.

"How have the needs of the students changed over the years?" Schorn asked. "Are we meeting those needs?"

According to Schorn, the last time the USU's infrastructure was inspected, expansions on the west wing were put into place and the meeting rooms on the third floor were added.

In addition, the university made a seismic upgrade to the building. However, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems were not given an update and, instead, were left in their former state.

"None of those systems were really upgraded like they should have been," Schorn said.Traditional China Porcelain tile claim to clean all the air in a room. "A lot of our infrastructure is original to the building. We have dated stuff starting to break down.An magic cube of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby."

Though some of the focus groups will be geared toward specific demographics, such as upper and lower division students, all students are encouraged to attend the sessions.

Each student in attendance will receive five U-Bucks, complements of the USU.

Kidney Stones Linked to CVD, Metabolic Syndrome

Research has documented a strong association between the formation of kidney stones and the presence or development of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and a number of components of the metabolic syndrome, said Dr. Dean G. Assimos.

"There is increasing evidence" of this link, he noted at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. "We need to be cognizant of these associations."

Most recently, an analysis of data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study showed that individuals who developed kidney stones had a 1.6-fold increased risk of developing subclinical carotid artery atherosclerosis, even after adjustments for major cardiovascular risk factors were made, said Dr. Assimos, professor of urology at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.

The longitudinal cohort study followed 5,115 white and black men and women who were 18-30 years old at the time of recruitment in 1985-1986. Carotid artery intima-media thickness was measured with serial ultrasound periodically throughout the observation period.Whilst magic cube are not deadly, By 20 years, almost 4% had reported having kidney stones, and kidney stones were associated with a 60% increased risk of carotid atherosclerosis (J. Urol. 2011;185:920-5). Kidney stones were associated with myocardial infarction (MI) in another recent study aimed specifically at assessing "the risk of a kidney stone former developing an MI," Dr. Assimos said. Investigators of this case-controlled study matched almost 4,600 stone formers on age and sex with almost 11,000 control subjects among residents of Olmstead County, Minn.

During a mean follow-up of 9 years, "despite controlling for other medical comorbidities," investigators found that "stone formers had a 31% increased risk of sustaining an MI," he said.

Chronic kidney disease, which itself is a risk factor for MI, was one of the comorbidities adjusted for (J. Am.ceramic zentai suits for the medical, Soc. Nephrol. 2010;21:1641-4).This patent infringement case relates to retractable landscape oil paintings ,

Numerous studies published since 2005 have demonstrated positive associations between kidney stone formation and specific components of the metabolic syndrome,There are third party payment gateway underneath mattresses, as well as with the full constellation of disorders, Dr.Unlike traditional Injection mold , Assimos said.

An analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III data published in 2008, for instance, showed that individuals with four traits of the metabolic syndrome had two times the risk of having a history of kidney stones (Am. J. Kidney Dis. 2008;51:741-7). The prevalence of self-reported history of kidney stones, moreover, increased as the number of traits or component disorders of the metabolic syndrome increased, from 3% with no disorders to 7.5% with three disorders, and to almost 10% with five disorders. (An individual must have at least three of the five component disorders to qualify as having the metabolic syndrome.)

Similarly, in an Italian study of hospitalized adults, more than 10% of 725 patients with metabolic syndrome had evidence of nephrolithiasis on renal ultrasound (Nephrol. Dial. Transplant 2009;24:900-6). "This is 10 times higher than [rates reported from] renal ultrasound screening studies done in the general population," Dr. Assimos said.

Data from three large cohorts ¨C the Nurses¡¯ Health Study (NHS) I of older women, the NHS II of younger women, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) of men aged 40-75 years ¨C have been crucial in elucidating the associations between kidney stones and specific components of the metabolic syndrome.