There has been much speculation surrounding the involvement of video games in Adam Lanza's mass killing spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Although the official investigation has yet to release its report, there is significant evidence that Lanza was an avid and enthusiastic player of violent video games. Earlier this week on Monday, a CBS news report raised eyebrows when they claimed that Lanza was partly motivated by the violent video games he had been playing, just as the Norway shooter, Anders Breivik, allegedly was. Despite many people's claims that violent video games are linked with mass shootings, according to the article, there has been no such evidence to substantiate those claimes. The article goes on to explain how the popular notion that mass homicides are linked to violent media was debunked all the way back in 2002 by a study conducted by the United States Secret Service; this study found that school shooters did not consume high levels of violent media. The article also responded to people who believe that the regulation, or even the complete removal, of violent video games and other violent media would have stopped these mass shooters from doing what they did: "If we could make it legal to regulate violence in games, would that have stopped
Lanza or any of the other mass homicides through history? No, not a one. We
should not be distracted from looking for the real contributing factors to
societal violence."
    In my opinion, violent video games, or any other violent media for that matter, DO NOT cause normal, perfectly sane individuals to go out and commit these heinous shootings and other violent acts; however, I will not go as far as to say that these violent video games don't have negative effects on individuals previously predisposed to violent tendencies. Violent video games do not turn sane people into mass killers; any individual who, after playing violent video games, is inspired to go out and kill innocent people was not sane in the first place. 

Photo Credit: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Duty_4:_Modern_Warfare

    Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes that the benefits of using drone strikes to kill possible Al Qaeda operatives significantly outweighs the negatives. While there have been innocent lives lost as a result of drone strikes targeting potential terrorists, Gates argued that these numbers are "extremely small." However, Gates believes that there needs to be some sort of a checks and balances system in order to restrain the President's ability to use drone strikes whenever he deems fit. The New American Foundation estimates that in Pakistan, in the year 2012, the nonmilitant casualty rate of drone strikes was approximately 10%. Although there are a significant amount of people that believe these drone strikes are benefical and perfectly legal, including President Obama and recently nominated CIA Director John Brennan, many lawmakers and human rights organizations have questioned their legality. Many of these individuals have questioned the oversight procedures surrounding these drone strikes, particularly when they are being used against American citizens overseas. Such was the case when New Mexico-born Anwar Al Awlaki, who was believed to have played an operational role in Al Qaeda near the Arabian Peninsula, was killed by an United States drone in 2011. Opponents of these drone strikes on American's overseas cite the 5th Amendment, which states that "No person shall denied life, liberty or pursuit of happiness," as their reasoning behind their opposition of them. During hearings last week, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Diane Feinstein said that she would consider legislation limiting/ monitoring these drone strikes in an attempt "to ensure that drone strikes are carried out in a manner consistent with our values." However, such legislation has yet to be drafted. 
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/10/gates-drone-program-while-useful-would-benefit-from-more-oversight/
Photo Credited to http://www.myvisitingcard.com/2011/anwar-al-awlaki-targeted-by-drone-but-remained-safe.html