Forgiveness gone too far

Yes, I say this is an overforgiving (and others, too). What is the point of having a legal system when you keep reducing the sentence? Whatever happened to the "deterrent effect" you promised? Shame on you, Justice!

To all criminals and criminal-wanna-be's out there, you're in good hands. Take this opportunity. Go commit your favorite crimes. You got jailed, no problemo. Just act like a nice boy inside and they will cut your sentence every Eid Day and every Independence Day. If you are seen praying regularly, you might get even more. Even as many as 36 months! What a minute, that's 3 years, no? Good deal!

Oh, this is even better. If you're likely to get capital punishment, before the verdict, do demand for it. Yes, tell them, challenge them court people, that you want yourself killed. That capital punishment is what you want. Then, you'll still see the sun in the morning. And the next morning. And the morning.

Shame on you, Justice! Shame on you!

Incentivized journalist

I like that word, incentivized. And I can certainly understand Mankiw's frustration with bad journalists. That reminds me of a question from an audience in one conference last month. I was asked how the media played its role in Indonesian economic and political discourse. I said it sucks. My example was Kompas. If even the best media in Indonesia sucks, what do you expect?