Indonesia Looks to Ban Black Magic, Premarital Sex

Indonesian lawmakers are considering a new criminal code that probably won't do much to hold the country up as a bastion of modern thinking. Among the proposals in the new code, drafted by a team led by a conservative Muslim scholar:

• Premarital sex: Five years in prison
• Singles living together: One year in prison

• Adultery: Five years in prison; scofflaws currently get 9 months
• Black magic: Offering such services, which are big business in the country, also gets five years
• Insulting the president: Five years in prison

It will likely take the better part of the year to hash out the 202-page revision, reports the Wall Street Journal. Wonders a 33-year-old woman in Jakarta: "Doesn't the government have better things to do?"