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Recapping All the Times Donald Trump Ran For President

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Donald Trump has been a public figure for pretty much his entire adult life. In the early 1970s, he took over his father’s real estate company and enhanced the branding so that everybody in the world knew the name Trump. He then began making appearances across all forms of media, making him a celebrity of sorts. From board games to reality television and everything in between, Trump was as famous as just about any Hollywood actor.

During most of his business career, Trump was very opinionated about the political world. When he first got involved with politics, Trump identified as a Republican but switched gears in the late 1990s as he became a brief member of the Reform Party. 

In 2001, Trump became a Democrat until the late 2000s and has largely been a Republican ever since. Throughout the years, Trump has at least considered a run for president, with several full-fledged campaigns. Let’s take a look at Trump’s history with presidential candidacies, which goes back further than you may have thought.

1992

When Ronald Reagan was getting close to his second and final term, almost every Republican knew that then-Vice President George H.W. Bush would be the next Republican nominee for the White House. Everyone, that is, except for Donald Trump. Trump took out advertisements in newspapers across the United States voicing his political beliefs and was asked if this meant he was running for office.

Trump denied that he was running for president and said he’d win if he did, but Bush himself said that he was approached by Trump to become his Vice Presidential running mate. Bush called the encounter “strange and unbelievable,” while Trump said, “at that time I had no political aspiration.” It’s unlikely we’ll ever truly know how it all went down specifically.

2000

After sitting out the 1996 election between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, Trump decided that he wanted to throw his hat into the ring when it became a wide-open race in 2000. Instead of running as either a Democrat or Republican, though, Trump decided to run as a member of the Reform Party.

Trump, however, didn’t even win the presidential nomination from the party. Instead, that spot went to Pat Buchanan, the former speechwriter, and advisor for Richard Nixon who chose Ezola Foster as his running mate. There were two states in which Trump won his primary for the Reform Party, though (Michigan and California).

2004 and 2008

After failing to secure the third party bid in 2000, Trump decided to take a bit of a back seat during the following two elections. Trump considered running again in 2004, but it wasn’t a serious interest. In 2008, he initially supported Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries, but when she lost the bid to Barack Obama, he began supporting John McCain.

Two of those people would end up being direct Trump opponents down the road, so it was interesting to see him support both during the same year prior to his presidential run in 2016. Ultimately, Obama would win the presidency, and Trump would be one of his biggest critics with the advent of Twitter.

2012

Because he was gaining so much support on social media for his opposition to Barack Obama, there were many who felt that Trump should run for president in 2012 while Obama was up for re-election. Trump ran an “unofficial” campaign and dropped out rather early in the process. 

It was around that time when Trump attended the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and was a massive target for Obama’s jokes. Many felt that this was the time when Trump began taking his political career seriously and started laying the groundwork for a 2016 campaign. This included requesting some of his records either removed or sealed.

2016 and 2020

In June 2015, Trump announced his official candidacy for the 2016 presidential election as a member of the Republican Party. Many felt that Trump had no chance, but continued to gain support in the primaries and knocked out candidates including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich on his way to winning the bid.

Trump earned 1,441 delegates during the primary elections, though he still wasn’t given a chance by most analysts in the general election. However, Trump pulled off one of the biggest upsets in election history when he defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

Four years later, though, Trump failed to win his re-election campaign in what has gone down as one of the most talked about elections in American history. Before even leaving the White House, though, Trump had announced that he was running once again in 2024 while contending the results of the 2020 election.

5 Republicans Who Could Have Been President

Posted on by scatty

There have been plenty of politicians throughout the years who have revealed they have no aspirations of being the President of the United States of America. There are even people who have no background in politics, but enough felt like that person should be the leader of the country. One of the biggest examples was Donald Trump, who developed enough of a following to actually become president when he officially ran on the Republican ticket.

Trump isn’t the only Republican who people have wanted to run for president. There have been many instances of others who either ended up surprisingly not winning their election, or didn’t run altogether. Here are five members of the Republican party who could have been president had they run a serious and official campaign.

William Seward

When we hear the name William Seward, we tend to think of “Seward’s Folly” which historians have said was never actually a popular phrase in the 19th century. What we’re referring to is when William H. Seward was serving as the 24th United States Secretary of State and oversaw the treaty that led to the U.S. purchasing Alaska from Russia. Some saw it as useless land at the time, but Alaska has proven to be a valuable asset for the country.

Seward had a long political career, getting his start as the Governor of New York from 1839 until the end of 1842. He then served as a U.S. Senator representing New York before becoming Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln. Seward had moved from the Whig to Republican Party in the 1850s and was primed to actually become president instead of Lincoln in 1860. Seward withdrew from the race, worked for Lincoln, and decided to step aside for Ulysses S. Grant in the following election.

Robert A. Taft

If the name Taft sounds familiar, it’s because Robert Taft was the son of the 27th President, William Howard Taft. His son had become quite a popular politician of his own during the 1930s through the early 1950s, and was so ingrained into the Republican Party that he was once dubbed “Mr. Republican”. 

Taft was a state representative early on in his political career, and toward the end of the 1930s he represented the state of Ohio at the U.S. Senate. He became Senate Majority Leader for the final few months of his time in the Senate and attempted to run for President multiple times. Unfortunately for Taft, when Republicans felt he was finally ready to be the top candidate, he succumbed to pancreatic cancer at 63 years old.

Colin Powell

The amount of overall experience that the late Colin Powell gave him a resume that’s almost unmatched. Powell began his military career in 1958 with the United States Army and worked his way up to the rank of General. Powell served in three wars and became a member of the Republican Party in 1995.

Powell was the U.S. National Security Advisor under Ronald Reagan, then became the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He went on to become Secretary of State under George W. Bush but never ran for the White House himself. Instead, he gave his full support to John McCain in 2008 and didn’t support anyone in 2016.

Condoleezza Rice

Powell wasn’t the only one to serve as Secretary of State for George W. Bush as Condoleezza Rice took over from 2005 until 2009. Rice was also the U.S. National Security Advisory and registered as a Republican after spending her early life as a Democrat.

Rice has plenty of experience in politics and business throughout her career, though it seems that she’s been more interested in the world of sports as she serves as part of the College Football Playoff Committee. She shot down rumors that she will run for president, saying that she’s a “policy maker, not a politician.”

Elon Musk

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has changed his political affiliations a handful of times throughout his business career, but in more recent years has shown his Republican side. After his foray into social media (purchasing Twitter), many of his followers felt that he would be a good candidate for President on the Republican ticket.

There’s just one small problem, however. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, thus disqualifying him as he’s not a natural-born United States citizen. There is a technicality that he could become Vice President, but a lot of electoral college rarities that have never happened before would need to fall in place, so don’t hold your breath.

5 Best Detroit Red Wings of All Time

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The Detroit Red Wings, as one of the Original Six in the National Hockey League, have a history that dates back longer than just about every other team in the league. Throughout the years, there have been several stretches of absolute dominance by the Wings because of some all-time great players.

It’s hard to narrow it down to just a few, but there are a handful of Red Wings players who stand out as the franchise’s best. Let’s take a look at the five players who stood out above the rest in Hockeytown history. Before we start the list, here are some players that just missed the cut: Serge Fedorov, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Alex Delvecchio.

Ted Lindsay

Many know about how Gordie Howe dominated for the Red Wings in the post-World War II years, but the casual fans might not know much about his longtime teammate Ted Lindsay. The left winger played for 14 seasons in Detroit (and another three with Chicago), recording 728 points in his 862 Red Wings games.

All of Lindsay’s best seasons came in the Motor City, and he won four Stanley Cups along the way. Lindsay was named an All-Star in nine seasons and won the 1950 Art Ross Trophy in addition to being named to the NHL’s 100th Anniversary Team. His jersey hangs in the rafters at Little Caesars Arena, and he became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.

Terry Sawchuk

There were a couple of times in which goaltender Terry Sawchuk left the Red Wings only to return to the franchise. Sawchuk started his career with Detroit where he spent his first six seasons, five of which resulted in him being named an All-Star and three of which saw him win the Vezina Trophy.

Sawchuk then spent two seasons with the Boston Bruins before his first return, and his second Red Wings tenure lasted for seven seasons. He had a third one-year stint, bringing his total to 14 seasons in Detroit. Sawchuck finished with 350 wins in his 734 appearances, saving 90.4 percent of shots and allowing 2.44 goals per game.

Nicklas Lidstrom

If it weren’t for the fact that Steve Yzerman was there for almost his entire career, Nicklas Lidstrom would have been the captain in Detroit for many more years. The Swedish defenseman played all 20 of his NHL seasons with the Red Wings and his list of accolades is one of the most impressive in NHL history.

Lidstrom recorded 1,142 points in 1,564 NHL games, which was good enough for sixth all-time when he retired in 2012. Lidstrom was named an All-Star 12 times, winning four Stanley Cups for the Wings. He famously won seven Norris Trophies as the best defenseman in the NHL and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. Naturally, his number six jersey was retired by the Red Wings not long after his career ended.

Steve Yzerman

Spending your entire NHL career with one team used to be more common in the early days of professional hockey, but changed dramatically during the 1990s and 2000s. One man that still remained with one franchise despite the ever-changing league was Steve Yzerman, who spent all 22 of his NHL seasons with Detroit and was everyone’s favorite Red Wing if they grew up in the 1990s.

Yzerman won the Art Ross Trophy in his first year and finished with 692 goals and 1,063 assists in 1,514 career games. The Hall of Famer won three Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, winning the Pearson, Smythe, Selke, and Masterson Trophies along the way. Strangely enough, Yzerman was only named an All-Star once (1999-2000).

Gordie Howe

Yzerman is a legend and will forever be synonymous with the Red Wings, but there’s only one “Mr. Hockey” and that’s Gordie Howe. Howe started his NHL career in Detroit when he was just 18 years old following the end of World War II. By his third year, Howe was an NHL All-Star and remained with the franchise until his early 40s. All in all, it was 25 seasons for Howe wearing the winged wheel, most of which came as the team’s captain.

During those 25 seasons, Howe collected 786 goals and 1,023 assists (1,809 total points) over 1,687 games. He won four Stanley Cups to go along with his six Ross Trophies and six Hart Trophies. The 21-time All-Star was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and was considered the best NHL player of all time before Wayne Gretzky came along.

5 Self-Taught Mathematicians Who Blitzed The Academic World

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There are a lot of us in the world who couldn’t learn math even if we had the best and brightest minds teaching us for several hours per day. Then, there are those that can simply open up a math book and figure out equations without any formal education. It seems unfair, but when this happens, that person is an autodidact. This is the art of teaching yourself a particular topic, and math can be the hardest to learn.

Throughout the course of history, there have been many notable math autodidacts. Many of them have gone on to change the way we think about and study mathematics to this day. Let’s take a look at five of those self-taught mathematicians who blitzed the academic world, leaving it better off.

George Green

Nottingham, England native George Green was born toward the end of the 18th century and only had one year of schooling as a child. Green taught himself pretty much everything that he knew when it came to academics. When he attended school for that year, teachers said they taught him all they could. He spent much of the 1820s working as a miller with his father while working in math on his own.

In 1828, he published “An Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and Magnetism”. The following year, his father passed away and left Green a hefty sum of money. This allowed Green to focus all of his time on mathematics and he attended college at nearly 40 years old. He continued to churn out publishings and by the time of his death in 1841, Green had become quite accomplished.

Susan Fowler

We now go from someone born in the 1790s to someone born in the 1990s. Susan Fowler is an Arizona native who was homeschooled while her father worked as a preacher. Wanting to get away from the homeschool structure that was based around religion, Fowler spent much of her free time in the public library teaching herself mathematics.

Because of this, Fowler was able to learn enough to ace her college entrance exams and attended Arizona State University before transferring to the Ivy League school Penn where she finished her degree before it was rescinded. Fowler used her mathematics skills to become an engineer for Plaid, PubNubu, and Uber, helping to put all three companies on the map.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Our next genius is Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian native who had just about zero training in math but still went on to become one of the greatest in the field during the past couple of centuries. Though he lived to be just 32 years old, Ramanujan accomplished more than just about anyone else had at that time.

Ramanujan would put himself in isolation to study math and what he came up with was so revolutionary that even experts couldn’t comprehend what they were seeing. There were a lot of new pieces of math which were named after Ramanujan, including the Ramanujan sum and Ramanujam prime. At just 30 years old, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

Out of the hairdos on the list, it would be hard to top Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz of Leipzig. It wasn’t just mathematics that Leibniz excelled in, but also philosophy. As for the former category, Leibniz developed the base of integral and differential calculus, even forming a more widely-accepted theory than that of Isaac Newton.

Leibniz was born in 1646 and lived a long life at that time, making it to 70 years old. Leibniz received very little formal training but was able to develop parts of a curve including the abscissa and tangent. What truly made him memorable was that Leibniz invented one of the first mechanical calculators, saving mankind countless hours working on mathematical problems both simple and complex.

Mary Everest Boole

Born in Wickwar, England in 1832, Mary Everest Boole was the niece of George Everest. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Mt. Everest was named after him. As for Boole, she had a private tutor during her early years, but after the age of 10, she began teaching herself mathematics and eventually worked with her future husband George Boole.

Following his death, Mary was just 32 years old and took on a job as a librarian while continuing her mathematical studies. She lived to be 84 years old, and throughout her adult life, she taught many people how to do math. She even created curve stitching (or string geometry) as a teaching tool. Without Boole, the modern education system would look much different today.

How to Recognize An Unsafe or Hacked Website

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Almost all of us have run into a problem where we don’t know why our computer isn’t operating the way it should be. After doing some research, we find out that we’ve gotten hacked or have been infected with a virus. Then, you’re left wondering how that could happen. Every website you go to says that it’s secure, and browsers like Google Chrome confirm that, and you make sure to never open anything from an unknown email address.

So how does this happen? There are way more websites out there than you might think that are unsafe or hacked, and they can cause harm to your computer and your personal information. Before you click on any webpage, there are some surefire ways to spot a harmful site. Here are five tips on recognizing websites that have been compromised.

Respect the S

There was a time when we would all just blindly go to any website that started its URL with HTTP. These days, you want to make sure that every website you visit instead starts with HTTPS. What’s the difference between the two? 

HTTPS is the same thing, except it has an extra layer of encryption that makes sure that your data is more secure. The ‘S’ stands for secure, simply enough, and most websites have made the switch in recent years to avoid data breaches.

Keep Looking at the URL

The “HTTPS” at the beginning of the URL isn’t the only thing that you should be looking for. There are a lot of people who end up typing in the wrong web address when they’re moving too fast in their browser’s address bar and still hit enter. 

This can lead you to a similar-looking website that’s not actually safe. If you’re looking for sports scores and accidentally stumble on WSPN.com instead of ESPN.com, you might get something that looks legit but is actually a harmful website.

Payments

Almost all of these fake or unsafe websites have store options, but you can spot which ones aren’t legitimate by the ways that you can pay. The safest ways you can pay online are through sites like PayPal or via credit card. Fake websites won’t be likely to accept credit cards since they can easily be hit with a chargeback as credit card protection is more stringent than debit card protection.

If there is a website that only accepts mailed payments or money orders, that’s a massive red flag to stay away from that website and block it from your browser forever. Even some sites that look shady can be legitimate because they accept encrypted payments, allowing your payment information to remain safe.

Trust the Chrome

Over the years, Google Chrome surpassed all of the other web browsers to become the most commonly used in the world. These days, around two-thirds of computer users trust Chrome, and for good reason. Not only does it have a very user-friendly interface, but it has plenty of extension options that make the browsing experience much better.

One thing that not many people consider when using Chrome is that it adds a lot of layers of protection. Whenever you’re about to visit a site that seems unsafe or hacked, Chrome will offer up a warning. In most cases, you can still surpass Chrome’s suggestion, but there are other times when the browser simply won’t allow you to continue. It’s best to heed Chrome’s warning when it does come up.

Layout

There are plenty of legitimate websites that look like they were designed back in the Angelfire days (looking at you, Wikipedia). However, most of them that are completely dated and look like they have no HTML arrangement whatsoever and can hardly be trusted. Any legitimate website will make sure that there’s a web designer to make sure everything looks up to date.

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but that mostly applies to books themselves or human beings. When it comes to websites, though, image is everything for legit businesses, and they wouldn’t allow a shady-looking website to go live.

Bonus Tip: Email Links

Another thing that you should look out for is your email inbox. Instead of clicking on a link that you receive in an email, always make sure to type in a web address yourself. This will ensure that you’re not going to any harmful websites as there are plenty of virus-filled emails that look authentic. If you have any doubt whatsoever about the validity of an email, it’s best to just delete it and move on with your day instead of putting your computer and private info at risk.

5 Reasons Why DVDs Are Still Great in the Digital Age

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There have been many ways in which to watch movies and television shows over the years. We started back with getting original prints of a film and using a projector to watch on a wall or large screen and eventually worked our way up to the current digital age. Now, even video game consoles are able to stream all of the media we consume through endless apps for streaming services.

We’re not too far removed from the days when the DVD was king, though. Even though digital has taken over for the most part, the DVD market is still very much alive. In fact, there are some people that haven’t made the jump to digital because the DVD is still a fantastic product. If you’re in this group or wondering why so many are, here are five reasons why DVDs are still great in the digital age.

No Internet Needed

First and foremost, to stream any movie or TV show, you need to have a stable internet connection throughout the entire stream if you haven’t downloaded it. Even then, you may live in an area where downloading a video can take ages and could possibly become corrupted. You also have to have storage room for all of your digital media and it can fill up quickly.

With DVDs, you don’t have to worry about that at all. Even if you’re using one of those video game consoles where you have to be online to play, you can still use a DVD while the internet is out or unstable. This makes a portable DVD player perfect for something like camping when your phone won’t connect to the internet to watch YouTube videos.

Quality

If you want a movie with better audio quality that’s better than a streaming service, watch it on DVD. If you want the best quality, watch it on Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray discs and players have Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD, making sure that you hear everything at the highest quality. Then, of course, there’s the video quality.

Unless your disc is really scratched up, your Blu-Ray player is going to have the best possible quality outside of a movie theater itself. Streaming services are often buffering and upload speeds can hiccup and make things blurry. Nobody has ever complained about a blurry screen with a Blu-Ray film.

Collecting

There are plenty of people out there who like to collect physical media, but it seems to be a dying art with the advent of streaming services for television and digital copies of video games. Those of us who are still collecting pine for the physical release of everything because of the aesthetic factor.

A solid chunk of the population will look at someone who collects DVDs or other physical forms of media as living in the past but don’t scoff at people who collect movie posters. It’s essentially the same thing, and people love to collect as a hobby. DVDs are no exception, especially with some of the covers being works of art.

Resale

Let’s say that you’re an avid collector and you’ve run out of room for your newest purchase. Because of that, there might be a DVD that you don’t particularly care for and want to get rid of. Instead of simply uninstalling it from a hard drive, you can sell it to someone to recoup at least some of the money.

In the cases of rarer DVDs, you can end up making money overall. DVDs that are still in their original shrink wrap are quite valuable to other collectors depending on what movie it is. “The Cremaster Cycle” is the rarest and most valuable DVD set, coming in at six figures since only 20 copies were made.

Forever Yours

There are going to be times when old episodes of TV shows are removed from reruns and streaming services because they were a product of their era. This includes some content that would be considered sensitive or offensive today. There may also be instances like the “Pokemon” episode which could cause seizures.

When you get the DVD collection, you don’t have to worry about losing an entire episode of a show or a whole movie. There’s also the case of streaming services losing the rights to certain movies and TV shows. This has caused fans of shows like “The Office” to simply buy the DVD box set since the streaming rights have bounced around so much.

5 Straight-to-DVD Movies That Ended Up Being Classics

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For the most part, people assume that movies that never get a release in theaters are of poor quality. After all, you’d never expect a blockbuster movie or a film that’s nominated for Oscars to be released directly to DVD. Still, there are plenty of movies that never got a full theatrical release that has ended up being beloved by those that were willing to take a chance on something with a smaller budget.

There have been countless movies that have been released straight to DVD, and while most of them are indeed as bad as you might think, there are some gems. Let’s take a look at some of those films and pick out the five best that you can pick up for cheap. You’re guaranteed to enjoy these movies that were once almost impossible to find in video stores in the pre-streaming era.

The Interview 

The first straight-to-DVD film on the list was never intended to be that way, but there were a lot of outside circumstances that prevented it from being released in theaters. “The Interview” stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, detailing the story of best friends and media members making their way to North Korea to film an interview with Kim Jong-un (played by Randall Park). The film was met with pretty solid reviews from fans, but released on DVD before it came to theaters.

The North Korean government caught wind of the movie and threatened to attack the United States if it were to be released in theaters. Kim Jong-un even said that “The Interview” was considered to be an act of war, taking things much too far. Eventually, writer Dan Sterling said that he didn’t want anybody to get hurt because of his comedy film, and it took a while before it was released on DVD and digital, several months after the theatrical release was canceled.

The Boondock Saints

These days, we all know Norman Reedus from his time on “The Walking Dead”, but his career got started in earnest with the 1999 film “The Boondock Saints”. The film, which was directed by Troy Duffy, certainly wasn’t lacking star power. Outside of Reedus, the cast included Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Connolly, and the great Willem Dafoe who received top billing.

The story details two Irish-American brothers who see a lot of gun-related action throughout the city of Boston, and we don’t want to give too many spoilers. The film was created on a $6 million budget and was only shown in five theaters upon its release. Thankfully for the film’s creators, Blockbuster was still around at the time and marketed the film successfully, leading to a lot of rentals and making the movie profitable.

Tremors II: Aftershocks

Another movie that went straight to DVD is the first sequel to the classic Tremors franchise. “Tremors II: Aftershocks” follows main character Earl Bassett, from the first Tremors film, as he’s offered a generous sum of money to rid a Mexican oilfield of the oversized worm-like creatures people have dubbed “graboids”. 

Unlike the first film, Earl finds himself a love interest, geologist Dr. Kate Reilly. Together they fight back against the creatures that take them by surprise when they begin morphing into more dangerous predators, walking and using thermal imaging to spot their victims. Like the first film, the sequel has been named one of the best straight-to-DVD films of all time. 

An Extremely Goofy Movie 

Released in 2000 by Walt Disney Home Video, “An Extremely Goofy Movie” is a certified classic straight-to-DVD film that fills every 90s kid with feelings of sweet nostalgia. The film follows the loveable Disney character and father, Goofy, as he and his young adult son Max somehow end up attending college together and clashing socially. 

Through setbacks and butting heads with one another, Goofy and Max reconcile and find their bond is stronger. The fantastic visuals, exciting plot, hilarity that ensues, and awesome soundtrack make this an animated masterpiece to remember. 

Run Ronnie Run

Fans of the HBO comedy sketch series “Mr. Show” should certainly watch the straight-to-DVD film “Run Ronnie Run”. Released in 2003, the film had actually been finished nearly two years before then, but couldn’t find a wide release in theaters. “Run Ronnie Run” is a spin-off of the “Mr. Show” series, so of course it stars a lot of the familiar faces that include David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black.

The film never really got the attention it deserved as Odenkirk (now of “Better Call Saul” fame) said that New Line Cinema and director Troy Miller for tampering too much with the final cut. Eventually, the film received positive reviews and became a cult classic many years later.

5 Rarest DVDs For Collectors to Find

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Because of the rise in digital technology and streaming services, there haven’t been too many people clamoring for DVDs in recent memory. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of collectible discs or box sets, though. Some movies, anthologies, and season sets were incredibly hard to find when they were first released and can be even harder to find now.

The DVD hasn’t exactly gone the way of the Dodo like the VHS tape, either. You can still play a DVD on most computers, almost all video game consoles, and DVD players are insanely cheap these days. For DVD buffs that are still looking to add to their collection, these are the five crown jewels that you’ll want to search high and low for.

Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box

Hellraiser is the beloved horror franchise created and directed by Liverpool native Clive Barker, based on his 1986 book “The Hellbound Heart”. The film’s plot follows the thrilling events that unfold after a puzzle box summons the otherworldly “Cenobites”, with the infamous “Pinhead” acting as their leader. 

The highly sought-after “Hellraiser: The Scarlet Box” box set was released in 2016 and holds four discs, Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, and The Clive Barker Legacy. As well as a 400-page book, first drafts for the character drawings, a poster, and more spooky goodies. The box set can sell for over $400. 

The History of Beavis and Butthead 

The History of Beavis and Butthead is the box set for the legendary animated show. It features 32 episodes spanning all 7 seasons of the goofy show. It was set to release in 2002, but creator Mike Judge decided he wasn’t happy with the selection of episodes chosen for the box set. 

Though some copies still managed to hit the store shelves and they quickly became highly sought-after collector’s item. Today, the box set can sell for anywhere from $150-$200. 

Kung Fury  

One of the more rare DVDs of the bunch is the kickstarter Blu-ray for the goofy martial arts comedy, Kung Fury. The film was written, directed by, and stars David Sandberg. The film’s budget was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2014, blowing past their $200,000 goal, reaching $630,019. 

The limited budget meant the film only runs 31 minutes, though it didn’t hold back the film from becoming a hilarious classic. The rare and kickstarter exclusive Blu-ray for Kung Fury can sell for anywhere between $800-$1000. 

The Killer 

Part of the Criterion Collection, John Woo’s 1989 film “The Killer” can cost you nearly $300 for a copy of this out-of-production DVD. It stars one of Hong Kong’s most loved and successful actors, Chow Yun- fat, who plays an assassin named Ah Jong who blinds a young singer, Jennie, played by actress Sally Yeh. Jong decides to take on one last mission to pay for Jennie’s vision-saving surgery. 

The Killer didn’t gain the adoration of moviegoers in Hong Kong, although it has been named one of the best action movies by viewers in the western part of the world and is a hidden gem sought after by DVD collectors. 

The Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series Collector’s Edition

Ranging anywhere from $250 to $500 a pop, The Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series Collector’s Edition features all seven intense games played by the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves during the 88th edition of the World Series. Nine innings in game seven weren’t enough to determine a winner. 

Heading into the 10th inning, the game was knotted at 0-0, and Gene Larkin hit a walk-off single to win it for Minnesota. Oddly enough both teams ended their previous season in last place. Both teams finishing the 1991 season above all the rest is one of the unique factors that made this win so special and makes this collector’s item such a prized possession. 

What Are The Economic Policies Of ‘The Squad’?

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The United States House of Representatives has seen a youth movement over the past few years, with millennials beginning to take some of the seats that were once filled by members of the Boomer generation and Gen X. Many of these younger representatives have been part of the Democratic Party, with nine in particular often joining forces on topics that appeal to younger liberals.

This group of nine representatives is known as “The Squad.” The Squad was spearheaded by New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and originally also consisted of Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), and Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts). Since then, several other members have been added, including Cori Bush (Missouri) and Greg Casar (Texas).

This group has received a lot of criticism from the right side of the aisle. Republicans have said that The Squad has ideals that are “too extreme” to the left, and The Squad has proven to be a thorn in the side of older right-wing politicians. If you’re not familiar with The Squad, here’s a look at some of their basic economic policies:

Student Loan Forgiveness

In 2022, student loan debt became one of the biggest news stories of the year. There were many that were above their eyes in debt, and the COVID-19 pandemic saw a lot of relief in terms of that debt as payments were postponed each month. President Joe Biden then said that he wanted to forgive up to $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year.

Members of The Squad were strongly in support of Biden’s ideas, including Squad leader AOC. “I’m 32 years old now, I have over $17,000 in student loan debt,” she said when the idea was being floated around. “And I didn’t go to graduate school because I knew that getting another degree would drown me in debt.” 

AOC wasn’t the only member that shared their personal stories about student loan debt. All of the members said that put together, their debt was between $180,000 and $400,000. Of course, there were members of the Republican Party that criticized The Squad for not paying off their student loan debt sooner.

Build Back Better

One of the more divisive bills that has been introduced in recent memory is the Build Back Better Act, which was introduced as part of President Biden’s plan to rebuild American infrastructure in every state. The bill wouldn’t be a cheap one, as the budget for the project was said to have been $3.5 trillion from the start.

There was a lot of in-fighting in Congress about the infrastructure bill, with members of the Republican Party wanting a separate infrastructure bill passed. The Squad didn’t want any of the bills to be passed until there was more spending on battling climate change and supporting American citizens financially. In the end, members of The Squad voted against a bipartisan bill that was put in place of Build Back Better, with AOC correctly predicting that the latter would be ultimately blocked by Joe Manchin.

Universal Basic Income

Members of The Squad feel that it’s too hard for Americans to earn a living wage, and the future use of AI and robotics will leave many people unemployed. With that in mind, they support the idea that was introduced by Andrew Yang of a universal basic income. This was amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people lost their jobs.

“This is not the time for half measures,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the height of the pandemic. “We need to take dramatic action now to stave off the worst public health and economic effects. That includes making moves on paid leave, debt relief, waiving work requirements guaranteeing healthcare, UBI, detention relief.” 

Medicare For All

There are a lot of people in the United States that don’t have any health insurance at all, with more than eight percent of the country falling into this category. Members of The Squad have been supporters of the Medicare For All Act, which would allow everyone in the country to receive medicare, no matter their employment status, healthy history, age, etc.

More than 120 Democrats have cosponsored the bill, but it has never been brought to a vote. At one point, AOC even said that she wouldn’t vote for Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House until she brought the Medicare For All Act to the floor. The act would allow for a single-payer healthcare system in the US, but it seems that it’s dead in the water for now. Still, Squad members want it to be a big part of the country’s future.

5 Pet Peeves of DVD Collectors

Posted on by scatty

No matter what it is that you’re collecting, there’s always going to be something about it that rubs you the wrong way. Comic book and sports card collectors will pick out the smallest imperfection they see and devalue an item to almost nothing, casual car collectors tend to dislike those who have a larger collection since they exude an air of superiority, and some coin collectors only care about misprints.

Then, there are those who collect movies, or DVDs, to be specific. Since DVDs can still be played easily on a seemingly endless range of devices, there isn’t a shortage of those who collect. Still, collectors have some things that are minor nuisances that they’ve revealed to the public over the years. Here are the five biggest pet peeves of DVD collectors.

Box Set Shapes

When you’re collecting an entire television series, you usually buy the box set one season at a time. In most cases, each season of the series will have a box with the same design and shape as the others. Then, there are the rare shows in which they switch it up every season and it can look like a mess on your shelves even though all of the boxes are for the same shows.

One of the most glaring examples of this is “The Simpsons”. The popular animated series started out with the same design for the first five seasons, featuring the family pictured on a couch within a television screen. Then, for the popular sixth season, the box was designed to emulate Homer Simpson’s head, making it larger and rounded at the top, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Spine Wrapping

To every company that has distributed DVDs, the entire collector’s community wants you to know that when you put shrink wrap over a DVD case, the overlap where it’s opened should be where the DVD case itself opens. There are too many instances in which the shrink wrap ends and begins on the spine of the DVD, and it leaves a sticky residue and ruins the aesthetic.

Those who collect DVDs have been complaining about this since the very first DVD was released, and no company has seemed to take notice despite the outcry. Even stores with used DVDs place the price tags on the spine, which also leaves an annoying residue that ruins the look, and it needs to stop.

Reviews on the Box

Collectors love a good clean cover, and in the same way in which people feel about movie posters, they feel about DVD boxes. Think of some of the best movie posters that you’ve ever seen. Not many of them have a line from a movie critic front and center, and the same applies to DVD covers. The movie has already been purchased, there’s no need for a critic’s quote.

Also, the review scores on the covers have to go. Owners don’t care if the movie is ‘certified fresh’ on Rotten Tomatoes. It just makes the case look tacky and too busy.  

An example of a good DVD cover is “Ghostbusters”. When it was released in disc format, it had the instantly recognizable slime in the background and the Ghostbusters logo dead center. The title of the film was large enough, and the only other text on the cover was reserved for the stars and the director. It’s clean, you know what it is from far away, and it’s appealing.

Sleeves

Your DVD disc is already well protected within the case, so there’s really no need for additional protection outside of wanting to stand out. There have been countless DVD cases that have come with a sleeve on the outside of the box. You then have to slip it out, and it can be hard to do it without damaging the sleeve.

Sure, it looks nice on a shelf, but it’s more of an inconvenience than anything. We’ve all had one of these DVDs where we slowly poke out the case from the top and hope to not damage the outside. It’s a lot of work just to get your movie into the player.

Multiple Discs in One Case

If there is going to be more than one DVD as part of a collection, then they should be in separate cases. Sure, there is less plastic involved when you’re using one case, but it makes for an awkward DVD experience.

You’ll know if there is more than one DVD in a case by the way it makes that strange rattling whenever you pick it up. The insert that holds the extra disc can often come unhinged and do more harm than good. To sum it up, a trilogy (looking at you “Spider-Man”) should be in three cases.