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02 Feb 2012 11:11

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Culture: Rapper Ja Rule’s best buds behind bars: Disgraced rich guys

  • Outside, you don’t meet guys like this every day. This place is amazing.
  • Rapper Ja Rule • Discussing his time in prison, where he’s in the middle of a two-year prison sentence for gun possession and tax evasion. The “guys like this” he’s referring to are disgraced Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and Alan Hevesi, a  New York state politician who went to jail over a “pay to play” scheme involving the New York state pension system. Ja Rule, who will be releasing an album later this month despite his prison sentence, has been working on taking college-level courses behind bars after getting encouragement from Hevesi and Kozlowski to pursue higher education. “It’s funny,” the rapper said. “We’re from totally different walks of life. But when you’re here, you’re here.” source

11 Oct 2011 11:07

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World: Yulia Tymoshenko: Former Ukranian PM sentenced to prison

  • The end of Ukraine’s experiment with democracy? Just a few years ago, Yulia Tymoshenko was one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine. Then she lost power in a narrow 2010 election, and Viktor Yanukovich gained it. Yanukovich pursued Tymoshenko’s role in a set of negotiations with Russia over the price of natural gas — something which, at best, would constitute a political controversy in the U.S., but certainly not something worthy of jail time. But this is Ukraine, and Tymoshenko got sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday. Does this signify a move away from traditional democracy for the country? How does a political icon like Tymoshenko (who’s probably far-more-known in the West than Yanukovich) get jailed for what was, at worst, a political scandal? Seems questionable. (photo via the European People’s Party Flickr page) source