Muqtada Christ, Superstar. posted by Richard Seymour

Yeah, he'd probably banish me to the firehole in the ground for calling him that, but Iraqis love him. And, hey, I'm big enough not to resent them for that.

Muqtada al-Sadr now has the support of

68%

of Iraqis. Meanwhile,

88%

of Iraqis consider the US forces to be "occupiers". Johann Hari will be drafting a letter of support for al-Sadr now, as he is ever so eager to strait-jacket himself in the results of Iraqi opinion polls.

Meanwhile, the train drivers and tube workers are taking to the picket lines , for better pensions, pay and benefits. Hopefully, a successful strike will inspire other groups of workers to undertake similar prophylactic action. It cannot be sensible to allow corporate bosses to steamroller changes to pension through, while they award themselves "phone number pay-rises" as Bob Crow put it.