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Remember to pour out some Stolichnaya today for Boris Yeltsin, who just passed away at a very impressive 76.

I think he'll get a harsh send-off from most media, which is not totally undeserved (see: loans-for-shares, Chechnya, and the ties between his "Family" and the Russian Mafia), but on balance I'm not sure how much we could have expected of anyone else.

It's passe, but I'm going to go ahead and Blame America for a lot of what happened there between '91 and '99 (extended thoughts possibly, but not probably, to follow in an extended post).