Man Wins Election After Telling Voters He’s Unqualified and Has No Idea What He’s Doing

A Canadian man who said he was completely unqualified for politics has won a city council election after his unconventional campaign signs went viral. Brady Rogers, a business owner in Kelowna, British Columbia, secured a seat on the city council during the October 17 municipal election, despite repeatedly claiming that he had no interest in becoming a politician. The 33-year-old received 12,635 votes, finishing fourth out of 37 candidates competing for eight council seats. His victory comes after his campaign attracted widespread attention for its sarcastic messaging, including an introduction on his official website that reads: “Do I enjoy politics? No. Do I know what I’m doing? No. But am I qualified? Also no.” Rogers previously worked as a robotic automation engineer for four years before starting The Rogerie, a business that turns plastic waste into new products. Despite his reluctance to enter politics, he explained that he wanted to help address issues facing Kelowna, including housing affordability, homelessness, and challenges affecting small businesses. Following his election victory, Rogers addressed supporters, emphasizing that despite his humorous campaign, he takes his new responsibilities seriously. The election results remain unofficial until they are formally declared, which is expected by October 21.

 

 

Continue Reading...

Gustave Eiffel's Secret Apartment

When the Eiffel Tower opened in 1889, designer Gustave Eiffel built himself a small apartment near the top. Located on the third level of the tower, the private apartment wasn’t large, but it was cozy. In contrast to the steely industrial girders of the rest of the tower, the apartment was furnished in simple style. The walls were covered in warm wallpaper and the furniture included soft chintz, wooden cabinets, and even a grand piano. Eiffel created a comfortable atmosphere, perched nearly 1,000 feet in the air. Adjacent to the small apartment were some laboratory areas equipped with experimental gear of the day. Once word got out about Eiffel’s cozy little nest in the sky, Parisian high society turned green with envy. Eiffel is said to have received a number of sky-high — pun intended — offers to rent out the space, even if only for one night. He declined them all, preferring to use the space for quiet reflection and to entertain prestigious guests such as Thomas Edison, who gifted Eiffel one of his newfangled phonograph machines. Today, after being off limits for years, the apartment can be viewed through a window by visitors who buy a ticket to the top. Many of the furnishings remain the same and there are a couple of rather sickly-looking mannequins of Eiffel and Edison.

 

 

Continue Reading...

The Appliance That’s Secretly Driving Up Your Electric Bill

If you’re looking for the culprit behind your sky-high electric bill, it might not be your refrigerator or dishwasher. The real energy hog is your oven. Every time you preheat, you’re summoning industrial-scale heat for a home-sized task. When it comes to energy, the oven is the Cadillac of the kitchen. It’s awesome and powerful, but wildly inefficient for short trips. Electric ovens typically draw between 2,000 and 5,000 watts, compared to about 700 watts for a refrigerator and 1,200 watts for a dishwasher. Each preheat is a power surge, a miniature furnace roaring to life so you can roast a single sweet potato. So, can you use your oven without spiking your electric bill? The biggest killer is preheating, so start by removing unused racks, which will improve airflow and reduce the thermal mass inside. While you may be tempted to peek, don’t! Opening the oven door allows heat to escape. In addition, skip foil liners. Aluminum foil can interfere with airflow and temperature readings. Finally, don’t try to speed things up by setting the oven to a higher temperature than you need. It won’t necessarily shorten the wait and can leave the oven hotter than intended when you put food inside. All of these tips will help lower your electric bill. A little awareness goes a long way.

Continue Reading...

The Surprising Difference in How Artificial Dye-Free Candies Taste

In accordance with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, Health and Human Services has banned artificial food dyes from the nation’s food supply. That decision had brands scrambling to reformulate their products. One of those companies is Mars, which produces Skittles, Starbursts and M&Ms. Now that the company has new dye-free versions of the candies, you may be wondering how they’ve changed. 

 

If you’ve ever confused a grape-flavored Skittle for brown, the artificial dye-free version will make things much clearer with its lighter, clearly purple exterior. The trend continues with other colors, too. The dye-free red, orange, yellow and green are all lighter, with an almost chalky or cloudy-looking finish compared to their more saturated, shiny original counterparts. In terms of taste, there’s no detectable difference. Those who have tried them say the texture seems a bit different, but hardly noticeable. 

Both versions of Starburst were securely snuggled inside identically colored wrappers, but once opened side-by-side, the color matching was a Star-BUST. Similar to the Skittles, the dye-free versions were lighter than the iconic pink, red, orange and yellow sugary squares we're used to seeing. Despite the less saturated color, the taste didn’t change.

If you’re a fan of blue and brown M&Ms, you’ll be disappointed opening a bag of artificial dye-free M&Ms — both colors are missing. Mars previously warned about this omission, noting that the blue and brown M&Ms were not able to be replicated in the dye-free versions. Of the remaining dye-free colors, red and yellow were a close match to the originals, while green and orange were more muted. Fortunately, there’s absolutely no difference in the taste, much to the delight of M&Ms fans.

Now for the bad news: Don't expect to see these candies in your Halloween basket this year. While all were launched by parent company Mars in summer 2026, they're currently only available for purchase through Amazon, so you won't see them on store shelves. In addition, they’re only available in family size bags, so there won’t be any individually wrapped treats for trick-or-treaters. 

Continue Reading...