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Watercooler Stories

By United Press International
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School says Churchill was 'very naughty'

LONDON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Although he later helped re-map Europe, an 1883 school report says Winston Churchill was "very naughty" and weak in geography, The Telegraph reports.

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The document from St. George's school in Ascot is among hundreds of Churchill antiquities to be displayed when Britain's first museum to the former leader opens in London Feb. 11.

The $11 million museum is located next to the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall, and includes Churchill's baby rattle, a pistol he used in his daring escape during the South African Boer War and painting materials.

However, Britain is not well-known for opening museums for famous political personalities, said Phil Reed, the director of the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum.

"There is a careful balance between avoiding insulting a hero and not looking at him though rose-tinted glasses," Reed said.

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The biggest museum to date has been in the United States -- in Fulton, Missouri where, in March 1946, he warned of an "iron curtain" descending across Europe.


King County, Wash., seeks MIA voters

SEATTLE, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- King County, Wash., officials say they now have 1,800 more votes for governor than voters, up from about 1,200 at the end of last week.

State Republicans cited "mystery votes" in King County as grounds for a new gubernatorial election, the Seattle Times reported. The GOP asked Chelan County Superior Court on Friday to set aside results in which Democrat Christine Gregoire had a 129-vote lead statewide over Republican Dino Rossi in a manual recount.

"When the election is decided by 129 votes and in King County you've got 2,000 more votes than voters, this election is invalid on its face," state GOP Chairman Chris Vance said. He termed the situation "unconscionable."

A Democratic Party spokeswoman said manual recount is valid and should stand, despite King County's difficulty in accounting for all votes.

The number of mystery voters ranged from 3,500 earlier to 1,200 last week, when another discrepancy was found: 1,000 voters who were listed twice. County election officials on Monday disclosed the revised number of 1,800.

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County elections officials said it's impossible to come up with a precise number because workers are revising voter rolls to get ready for a Feb. 8 special election.


The Gap finds one in its own credit line

MEMPHIS, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A Tennessee woman who applied for a Gap credit card and got 302 of them mailed to her now wishes she'd ordered gift cards instead.

Milly Beck said the flood of plastic began Sunday at her home outside Memphis when she opened her mailbox and found more than 70 envelopes, each containing four credit cards for the retail clothing chain.

She immediately called the company, which referred her to the credit card provider, G.E. Consumer Finance. There, spokesman Pete Tosches told the Memphis Commercial Appeal Monday there had been a computer glitch and apparently happened only to Beck.

But Monday, Beck got another 16 four-packs.

The Gap customer service representative advised her to shred them all, but Beck says instead, she's considering holding a scissors party for her friends to see the sea of plastic.

"If only they were gift cards," she said.


Nicolette Sheridan 'tops' Blackwell's list

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Actress Nicolette Sheridan "tops" this year's list of the 10 Worst Dressed Women by Hollywood fashion designer Mr. Blackwell.

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Sheridan -- one of the stars of the hit ABC drama "Desperate Housewives" -- made the cut for what Blackwell called "barely-there bombs." He called her a "taste-free pain."

Teen singer-actress Lindsay Lohan claimed the second spot on Blackwell's list.

"Over-hyped and under-dressed," he said. "What's happened to Lindsay? When it comes to fashion she's in a schizophrenic frenzy!"

Pop sisters Jessica and Ashlee Simpson tied for third. "From gaudy ... to grim ... to downright frenetic, these two prove that bad taste is positively genetic!"

Courtney Love -- "Medusa stuck in a meltdown mode" -- was No. 4. Paris Hilton came in at No. 5 this year, with Blackwell calling her "one Hilton that should be closed for renovation."

Rounding out the list were Serena Williams, Britney Spears, Paula Abdul, Meryl Streep and Anna Nicole Smith.

Hilton, Love, Spears and Jessica Simpson also appeared on last year's list, with Hilton at No. 1.

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