Groundhog Effect

If there’s one thing that’s annoying about time travel stories, it’s people fussing about some contrived “paradox” theory or other. A close second is people fussing about the butterfly effect. Stein’s;Gate has had its share of butterfly-fretting, but in its thirteenth installment we finally get to one of my favorite time-travel trope, the Groundhog Day scenario. In the classic Bill Murray film, the main character is stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again for reasons unknown. Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu had a similar plotline with the Endless Summer arc. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni revolved heavily around a time loop. There have been dozens of video game scenarios that are simply so difficult that the player has to re-try over and over again in a manner reminiscent of Groundhog Day, and I’m not just talking about Donkey Kong Country here.

Time travel tropes are sticky business, but Stein’s;Gate is handling it admirably so far. I certainly feel a bit liberated in regards to posting pictures that look like spoilers now, that’s for sure (a character can only die so many times before it loses its dramatic kick).

Stein's Gate 12

Previously I gave a conditional endorsement of Stein’s Gate based on an assumption that everything would derail after a half-dozen episodes or so. Twelve episodes in, we are finally at crossroads of sorts. This show is either just about to faceplant into a steaming pile of failure or soar into greatness. I stand corrected. This series has remained awesome for at least twice as long as anticipated.

Tune in next week to find out how Hououin Kyouma uses seemingly-ordinary kitchen appliances to challenge murderers, turncoats, international conspiracies, and fate itself!

For the lulz 

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Supposedly released by LulzSec:

1. Salutations Lulz Lizards,
2.
3. As we’re aware, the government and whitehat security terrorists across the world continue to dominate and control our Internet ocean. Sitting pretty on cargo bays full of corrupt booty, they think it’s acceptable to condition and enslave all vessels in sight. Our Lulz Lizard battle fleet is now declaring immediate and unremitting war on the freedom-snatching moderators of 2011.
4.
5. Welcome to Operation Anti-Security (#AntiSec) – we encourage any vessel, large or small, to open fire on any government or agency that crosses their path. We fully endorse the flaunting of the word “AntiSec” on any government website defacement or physical graffiti art. We encourage you to spread the word of AntiSec far and wide, for it will be remembered. To increase efforts, we are now teaming up with the Anonymous collective and all affiliated battleships.
6.
7. Whether you’re sailing with us or against us, whether you hold past grudges or a burning desire to sink our lone ship, we invite you to join the rebellion. Together we can defend ourselves so that our privacy is not overrun by profiteering gluttons. Your hat can be white, gray or black, your skin and race are not important. If you’re aware of the corruption, expose it now, in the name of Anti-Security.
8.
9. Top priority is to steal and leak any classified government information, including email spools and documentation. Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments. If they try to censor our progress, we will obliterate the censor with cannonfire anointed with lizard blood.
10.
11. It’s now or never. Come aboard, we’re expecting you…
12.
13. History begins today.
14.
15. Lulz Security,
16. http://LulzSecurity.com/
17.
18. Support: http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html
19. Support: http://www.youtube.com/user/thejuicemedia
20. Support: http://wikileaks.ch/
21. Support: http://anonyops.com/

It immediately occurs to me that defacing government websites will do no good for anybody but the security consultants that will be retained to prevent future problems. Compromising bank systems, either to release account information or to halt transactions is almost certain to cause more serious problems for the typical prole than do any lasting harm to the folks at the top of the food chain. There's something to be said for the flair LulzSec has displayed with their efforts, though.