Huge protest over Irish economy

About 100,000 people have taken part in protests in Dublin city centre to vent their anger at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession.

They oppose plans to impose a pension levy on 350,000 public sector workers.
Trade union organisers of the march said workers did not cause the economic crisis but were having to pay for it. In a statement, the Irish government said it recognised that the measures it was taking were "difficult and in some cases painful". The pension levy was "reasonable", the government said. It reflected "the reality that we are not in a position to continue to meet the public service pay bill in the circumstances of declining revenue", it added. Reports say the plan could cost the 350,000 public sector workers between 1,500 euros and 2,800 euros (£2,500) a year.

There were conflicting estimates of the numbers of people at the march, which began on the north side of Dublin in the middle of the afternoon. Police said 100,000 people were on the streets, while organisers said they expected 200,000 to protest in total. One protester said he was "sick and tired of the way this government conducts itself and what it's doing to this country". "I've worked all my life, I've never broke the law, never walked out on strike. Instead I've went to work and done my job," he said. "I've a mortgage to pay, I've children to put through school, and now I'm being told I have to take cutback, after cutback, after cutback."
Ireland, which was once one of Europe's fastest-growing economies, has fallen into recession faster than many other members of the European Union. The country officially fell into recession in September 2008, and unemployment has risen sharply in the following months. The numbers of people claiming unemployment benefit in the Irish Republic rose to 326,000 in January, the highest monthly level since records began in 1967.

Study: Violent Games Make Players "Comfortably Numb" to Suffering of Others

A just-released research report claims that playing violent video games makes players "comfortably numb" to the pain and suffering of others. The study, conducted by University of Michigan professor Brad Bushman and Iowa State University professor Craig Anderson, appears in the March 2009 issue of Psychological Science. Both Bushman and Anderson have previously published research with negative findings about violent games. A press release describes the research methodology employed in the new report:

320 college students played either a violent or a nonviolent video game for approximately 20 minutes. A few minutes later, they overheard a staged fight that ended with the "victim" sustaining a sprained ankle and groaning in pain.

People who had played a violent game took significantly longer to help the victim than those who played a nonviolent game 73 seconds compared to 16 seconds. People who had played a violent game were also less likely to notice and report the fight. And if they did report it, they judged it to be less serious than did those who had played a nonviolent game. In the second study, the participants were 162 adult moviegoers. The researchers staged a minor emergency outside the theater... The researchers timed how long it took moviegoers to "help"... Participants who had just watched a violent movie took over 26 percent longer to help than either people going into the theater or people who had just watched a nonviolent movie.

These studies clearly show that violent media exposure can reduce helping behavior. People exposed to media violence are less helpful to others in need because they are 'comfortably numb' to the pain and suffering of others, to borrow the title of a Pink Floyd song.

Some of the most violent games around.. Well according to me anyway

Mortal Kombat (series)
Beat em up style game like street fighter/tekken only this time with extreme violence such as heads being ripping off & spines being ripped out, sure it was not meant to be taken too seriously but on its release it gained instant notoriety.

Grand Theft Auto (series)
One of the best selling game series of all time with great stories & lots of lifespan the violence in this game is based more on real world rules & maybe that’s why it has gotten such a strong reputation.

Manhunt 1 & 2
From the same guys who made GTA this game is brutally violent to the point of number 2 getting an instant ban when it was due to be released. The player controls a death row inmate who gets a chance to win his freedom..by massacring his way through the game. it’s a lot like the film “the running man”.

Killer 7
Playing a lot like & resembling a comic this game was..well disturbing, I still to this day don’t know what was going on in the story. Between the moments of extreme violence & even full blown sex the game just plays really weirdly & definitely plays with your mind a bit, perhaps that’s why it disappeared from the stores so quickly.