Voter ignorance threatens democracy
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Political ignorance is an old problem that threatens democracy, panelists at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington said Tuesday.
The majority of U.S. voters know little about a broad range of governmental topics, from domestic issues to the war in Iraq, said academics at a forum called "What's Wrong with the Voters."
Ilya Somin, assistant professor of law at George Mason School of Law and author of "When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: How Political Ignorance threatens Democracy," said: "If people lack information, it's difficult to hold leaders responsible or reward them. ... The government is not being effectively monitored by the people."
Forty-three percent of U.S. voters did not know that defense spending is one of two largest expenditure areas in the federal budget, he said, citing the 2004 Princeton Survey Research Associates Survey.
The 2000 National Election Study, he said, reported that only 15 percent of 1,543 Americans asked correctly named at least one candidate for the House of Representatives in their district.
Somin said voters who lack sufficient knowledge on governmental matters may be manipulated by elites and they may demand policies that contravene their own interests.
Iraqi rebels take Japanese man hostage
BAGHDAD, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- An Iraqi militant group took a Japanese citizen hostage Tuesday and gave Tokyo 48 hours to withdraw from the country or he would be killed.
The group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi made the threat in a video aired on Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, Sky News reported.
"We are giving the Japanese government 48 hours in which to withdraw its troops from Iraq, otherwise this infidel will join the others," a member of the militant group said in the video that has been posted on the Internet.
The video shows the hostage sitting beneath a black banner bearing the name of Zarqawi's group with three masked men behind him.
DC sniper Malvo gets second life sentence
SPOTSYLVANIA, Va., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Washington sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, who pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder, was sentenced Tuesday to two terms of life in prison without parole.
CNN reported that Malvo, a Jamaican, was charged with killing Kenneth Bridges, who had been standing outside a gas station in Fredericksburg, Va., and with attempting to kill Caroline Seawell who had been standing outside a Virginia arts and crafts store. By pleading guilty, Malvo avoided the death penalty, the Washington Post reported.
Malvo is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of FBI analyst Linda Franklin who was killed in the parking lot of a Virginia Home Depot.
The three shooting victims were among 10 people killed, and three wounded, in Washington, Virginia and Maryland by a sniper in the fall of 2002.
In his first trial, Malvo admitted taking part in the shootings, but his lawyers said he had been brainwashed by accomplice John Allen Muhammad.
Muhammad has been sentenced in Virginia to the death penalty.
Defense rests in Scott Peterson trial
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The defense rested in Scott Peterson's murder trial Tuesday, setting the stage for jury deliberations in Redwood City, Calif., sometime next week.
Peterson faces a possible death sentence if convicted in the high-profile deaths nearly two years ago of his wife, Laci, and their unborn child.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos wrapped up his relatively brief case with testimony from a Modesto police officer regarding a reported burglary in the Petersons' neighborhood around the time Laci went missing.
Geragos has attempted to convince the jury that someone other than his client could have kidnapped and killed Laci while her husband was away fishing.
The remains of Laci and her fetus were discovered in San Francisco Bay, not far from the waters where Peterson said he had been fishing for sturgeon.
Prosecutors will present their rebuttal witnesses Wednesday with closing arguments tentatively scheduled for Monday.
Kenesset approves Sharon's withdrawal plan
JERUSALEM, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The Israeli Knesset Tuesday approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to move Israeli settlers out of Gaza by a 67-45 vote, with seven abstentions.
Six Arab members of the Knesset were among the abstentions.
Education Minister Limor Livnat, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ministers Yisrael Katz and Dan Naveh, were all absent from the first round of voting. The Ha'aretz news service said they entered the plenum as the initial results were being read and were given an opportunity to vote. They all voted in favor of the withdrawal.
Before the vote, Israeli Social Affairs Minister Zevulun Orlev said his National Religious Party would quit the government unless Sharon holds a referendum on the withdrawal plan. The NRP gave Sharon 14 days to make a decision.
Another controversy loomed concerning Sharon's reported determination to fire ministers who voted against his plan. Israel Radio said Sharon would dismiss Minister-Without-Portfolio Uzi Landau and Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Michael Ratzon for voting against the proposal.
Under the plan approved Tuesday, the cabinet must meet again to decide which Gaza settlements will be evacuated and when, the Jerusalem Post said. The Knesset then would have to approve the implementation legislation. Under the bill, each settler who leaves the Gaza Strip and relocates in Galilee or Negev would receive a $30,000 bonus.
