Intersections

Voting for no one in Mexico

* Above, 'voto en blanco' propoganda, with a leftist bent.

Mexicans vote in mid-term congressional elections on Sunday and the most remarkable thing about the whole affair is that so many voters are planning to cast their ballots for no one. The "voto en blanco" or "voto nulo" movement calls for the nullifying of a ballot by placing a huge X across the entire sheet, a gesture of protest and dissatisfaction with the political parties and the entire Mexican political system. Grassroots, decentralized, and non-ideological, the movement is picking up steam.

And why not? The economy is faltering. The traumatic, trippy and only vaguely rationalized narco war has no end in sight. None of the parties' platforms offer a fundamentally radical shift from the country's current course, or if they do, there's little reason to believe anything a Mexican politician says or promises.

"Do you think Mexicans have no memory?" this pro-voto nulo clip asks. At this site, the message is: "Absenteeism is apathy, voting blank is participation."

Indeed, as much as 70% of voters are expected to stay away from the polls on Sunday. The ruling PAN is hoping to expand or at least hold on to its bloc, but most analysts and polls suggest the resurgent PRI will be declared the winner overall on Monday. Voto nulo is not expected to crack 10% of votes cast, a small figure but an undeniably bold message in the long run.

Supporters of voto nulo that I've spoken with -- known by some as anulacionistas -- say they're fed up with what they call a charade of a system. They range from disgruntled ex-politicians, to middle-class elites and active left-wingers, undeterred by the criticism that voto nulo would only weaken Mexico's nascent democracy.

"What kind of democracy are we talking about?" said Benjamin Argumento. "The people voted in 1988 for Cárdenas. Cárdenas won the election, and they didn't let him govern. The people voted for López Obrador in 2006. López Obrador won the election, and they didn't let him govern. The candidates we have today are from the media, from the corporations, who will not give any result, any benefit, for the citizens."

* This is the first election in Mexico in which I am able to participate as a voter. I'm still not sure how I will mark my ballot. More on Monday.

Michael Jackson on a wall in an alley

... In the old-school Sherman barrio of San Diego (read that carefully crafted official description), in process. Notice the gooey, dripping apart face make-up.

Having been so moved by the somber but celebratory BET awards the other night, this made me think, A memorial is a memorial, right?

Graffiti removal as subconscious art?

It's hard to tell if this video is super-serious or seriously satirizing itself. It treats the gray, white and beige blotches of "graffiti abatement" rendered by municipal workers across the U.S. as unintentional extensions of abstract expressionism and minimalism, and an "important step in the future of modern art."

Yes, those quilts of anonymous spots of graffiti erasure are often beautiful. But ... really? * The clip info says the original filmmaker is Matt McCormick.

Sunday at the beach

Imperial Beach is basically the southwestern-most community shore in the contiguous United States, right to the north of the Tijuana River estuary on the southwest edge of San Diego County.

There is a pier, an old-school sea shell shop, and the sands are crowded with multiethnic families, chilled-out cholos, and crews of gangster-ish and red-faced skater-surfers, seemingly proud to be calling this their turf. Every summer a major sand sculpture festival happens here.

With easy access to parking and an extra-heavy dose of that laid-back Southern Cali feel, IB is also an ideal place to dip into the Pacific and lie away a few hours on a vacationy sort of Sunday afternoon.

The intersection of MJ and the Iran elections

The world watched with awe and horror at massive demonstrations in opposition to the results of Iran's presidential elections this month, and paramilitaries' deadly crackdowns. But the modern world's attention span is severely screwed. Two weeks later, a mood of melancholy is enveloping normally frenetic Tehran, reported the NYT over the weekend. Although a smaller demonstration occurred Sunday, the opposition's options are dwindling fast.

And suddenly now, the planet is on MJ overload.

Here's how we can honor both tragedies: The above video mashing up Michael Jackson's protest anthem "They Don't Care About Us" with images from the Iran unrest. (Pop-meta-meltdown once more, albeit with that awful "Jew me, Sue me" lyric still floating in there.)

"Freedom is near," the video says, "Don't give up." Could it be? From one of the many forwarded dispatches sent to me from inside Iran:

There is the possibility that those imprisoned remain there, that Moussavi is done away with by some means (exile, house arrest, etc), and that Ahmadinejad remains the illegitimate president of an unlawful dictatorship. If this happens, the next four years would mean major organizing in the underground and a new stage in Iranian political activism. One thing is sure: people are no longer going to accept the self-censorship or fear that has been imposed upon them.

For a long archive of beautiful ephemera in Iran, visit the photoblog Life Goes On In Tehran.

And for smart looks at Michael Jackson's death and legacy, from African and African American male perspectives, see here and here. Ernest Hardy discusses Jackson's most overlooked inspiration -- Diana Ross -- and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza cites Frantz Fanon to lament Jackson's long-ago death "as a black man."

In the green room

 * Photo via Zocalo Flickr feed.

In case you missed it, here is my conversation "in the green room" with Swati Pandey of Zocalo and a link to a summary and video of my lecture last week in L.A. It was held before a packed house at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown, and people had wonderful and thoughtful questions. The whole thing was such an honor, and such fun. Thanks for coming through.

* ALSO: Here is the Zocalo wrap of the event the following night with Arturo Sarukhán, Mexico's ambassador to Washington. Sarukhán apparently joked that Barack Obama and Felipe Calderón are similar because "They're both lefties, both their wives are lawyers, and they got married the same year."

Um, Felipe Calderón is far, far from being anywhere near a lefty. I wonder if Sarukhán was merely willing to gamble that most people in the audience wouldn't pick up on that. Sarukhán was an appointee of conservative Vicente Fox and actually left Mexico's foreign service to campaign for Calderón in the highly contested 2006 elections.

Excavations: San Diego gangsta rap, really

Depicting a true gangster's dilemma -- getting locked up and then cut off by your moms -- here is Southeast San Diego and former Def Jam rapper Jayo Felony doing his "The Loc is On His Own." Listen close to the well-woven rhymes; the video starts 20 seconds into it.

Check this fan site and this interview for more. "Jayo Felony is somethin' I created when I was in Juvenile Hall as a 14 to 15 year old seein' the word felony carved in a desk," the rapper says. "It just stuck with me. Jayo stands for Justice Against Y'all Oppressors. Just a little bit of science behind it."

And what's Southeast (where we also lived back when) really like? Urban Dictionary breaks it down.