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Madeleine Elster

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Oct 4, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on The Problem With Netflix's "Legacy" Model.

Netflix's streaming service--for merely $7.99 a month--is a fucking steal. Maybe the best deal in the history of entertainment. Sure, if you're hung up on watching only the newest of new releases, you're going to be disappointed. But if you have even the slimmest grasp of economics, you shouldn't be surprised. The newer stuff is astronomically more valuable because interest in it is so intensified. I'm sure Netflix and content owners could reach a licensing agreement that included streaming for every new release simultaneous with its DVD/Blu-Ray release date, but I guaran-fucking-tee your eyeballs would pop out at what it would do to the price of your streaming subscription, because streaming those titles that early would nearly obliterate the rental and disc sale value of those films, and the studios would have to recoup those losses via the licensing price. You don't get something for nothing, OK? In the meantime, there's an amazing amount of really, really cool stuff that NF has acquired the rights to. Like Michael Mann's second (and awesome) movie THE KEEP, which Paramount hasn't released on home video since friggin' *laserdisc* back in the 80s. Or a ton of Peter Sellers's really early British films. And the list goes on. It really boggles my mind that someone would think that eight bucks a month for unlimited access to such an enormous--and, for streaming, unparalleled--reservoir of content is excessive.

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Aug 10, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on The Real Lesson from the Gonzalez Race: We Need the "Washington Voting Rights Act".

Honestly, I'd expect better from a Perkins lawyer; this hyperbolic, overheated rhetoric is a bit much, and it's pretty lousy writing. There's a way to make this point without the histrionic claims. I'm not sure this qualifies as a deprivation of representative democracy--there are plenty of Caucasian politicians that are perfectly willing to stand up for the rights of Hispanics, African-Americans, etc. A lack of racially proportionate elected officials doesn't mean that a person is being deprived of representation ("no matter who you are or what your last name may be, you have a right to political representation"). I agree with Perez that this discrepancy is problematic, but not because I think that the state's Hispanic population is being stripped of its rights, which is an argument that I think is pretty silly.

"a system that effectively silences 49% of Central Washington"

Oh, for God's sake. That's how elections work--the 49% loses. If you don't like outcomes in which voters are "silenced," then I don't know what to tell you.

Jul 21, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on New Poll Looks Bad for Gay Marriage.

@6 - I think Martha Coakley could tell you why that's sage advice.

Jul 21, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on New Poll Looks Bad for Gay Marriage.

Complacency kills in close races. I totally agree with Dominic; the odds are still in our favor, but this is an imminently losable races... particularly if people become convinced that their vote is superfluous. This is why everyone is so much more sanguine about McKenna's chances than Inslee's... his enthusiasm numbers are much higher than Jay's (72% of supporters vs. 58%). That's a big disadvantage, besides being down only a point.

http://argojournal.blogspot.com/2012/07/…

Jul 17, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on Rob McKenna Should Fire Kathlyn Ehl, Says Seattle Times Editorial Writer.

It's always sort of adorable when The Stranger hyperventilates about some granular, irrelevant story, thinking it has a scoop. How many posts did they devote to the stupid employee at Thornton Creek who told a couple patrons about the [insert spoiler here]? For fuck's sake, you'd think it was Watergate...

Jul 10, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on Republican Pflug Trashes Rossi, Endorses Democrat.

I went to law school with Cheryl and knew her pretty well socially. She's a complete class act. She's compulsively honest, genuinely cares about her constituents, and doesn't have a malicious or vituperative bone in her body. Her did her job diligently and never ran her mouth when she didn't know what she was talking about, which is more than the vast majority of her colleagues can say. Sad to see her go, but I'm glad she was promoted. The legislature was making her genuinely unhappy, and she deserves a better class of people.

Jul 9, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on Andrew Hughes Stunt Sinks to a Whole New Level.

Oh, whippersnapper. This is becoming embarrassing. The gumption is nice and all that, but his campaign has become pretty condescending... he's obviously going for the 18-35 demographic, which he apparently thinks is easily wooed by doing things like parachuting into the block party. It's getting to be a little insulting, honestly. Work hard, knock on doors, be articulate, smart, and shrewd, and you'll make an impression.

Jul 5, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on A Gift from the Whippersnapper.

I honestly wonder if The Stranger appreciates the extent to which it's being used as the only pathway to viability for the Hughes campaign. He wants some McGinn magic, and I suspect he knows that if he doesn't get your endorsement, he's totally sunk (as opposed to only about 95% sunk). He badly needs a stamp of legitimacy that helps him run up the vote among the Pike/Pine crowd, and you're that stamp. Not implying you can be bought, but he's clearly (and, to my mind, not subtly) trying to grease the rails.

And @9, the only reason you think he's credible is because he has the family money to fund his campaign. Tell me what experience or ideas he has that elevate him more than two notches above sideshows like Goodspaceguy. Hughes has never been elected to anything, but beyond that, he's never worked in politics. There are plenty of people who run for Congress that haven't been elected, but are qualified by virtue of other political experience. Hughes doesn't have that. He doesn't have any career (he's passed the Bar, but he's never practiced law). He's never worked in a think tank, charitable organization, or or helped formulate policy in any way. What on Earth does he have that qualifies him FOR FEDERAL OFFICE besides ambition? Please, let me know.

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Jul 5, 2012 Madeleine Elster commented on Theater Employee Warns Customers that Prometheus Features an Abortion (UPDATED with Comments from Regal Entertainment Group).

This article lacks a little perspective. Some dumbassed employee mouthed off to a few customers, and you're treating it like goddamned Watergate Redux. Who cares, honestly?