I only now read this thread and I wonder how I could have missed it. Anyway, sounds to me this guy is genuine. He doesn't brag and isn't claiming that this guy was the most powerful and that guy wasn't.
Everything he says matches up exactly with what everyone I know who lives there says what's going on.
Note that I don't have any firsthand knowledge myself, so it's possible he's just repeating the same rumors that those people have repeated. But I doubt it; his post seems to have the ring of truth to it.
