The Post-Partisan Emporium

  A Storied Russian Muckraker On Oil, Iran, Ukraine, and More Known for fearless journalism in the Yeltsin years, Leonid Krutakov resurfaces with an epic history of the oil business, at a time when war over energy has never been more relevant. Matt Taibbi Russian oil in the Phillipines this week In Moscow in July 1997, reporter Leonid Krutakov had a scoop. Anatoly Chubais, the Harvard-educated privatization boss and right hand of Boris Yeltsin, had been given a $3 million loan from Stolichny Bank just before that same bank — controlled by an intimidating “businessman” named Alexander Smolensky — won an auction for a state-owned agricultural property, Agroprombank. It was a great story, but Krutakov had to make an epic journey to print it. First fired from Chubais-friendly  Komsomolskaya Pravda,  he was rejected by  Moskovsky Komsomolets,  then appealed to the legendary editor of  Top Secret , Artem Borovik, before that magazine, too, turned him down. Finall...

  Trump is Insane. It's 25th Amendment time. Matt Bracken Trump has lost what is left of his mind. 1. You can’t “threaten” Shia Muslims with martyrdom. Martyrdom in a defensive war against an infidel aggressor is the gift of paradise to them. This shows a total lack of understanding of Islam, and in particular Shia Islam. Secular Westerners might not believe this, but they most surely do. 2. Putting “ Fuckin’, crazy bastards, hell, and Praise be to Allah ” together in one post is incredibly offensive and blasphemous to ALL Muslims around the world. He just gave a big dirty EFF YOU!!! to every Muslim on the planet. This is not going to help, to say the least. 3. If he carries out his Tuesday bombing plan, Iran will retaliate and destroy critical power plants in nations where US forces are operating, from Kuwait to the GCC to Saudi Arabia. Iran is 95% water self sufficient. On the other side of the Persian Gulf they are 90% dependent on desalinated water. Millions may perish from lac...