I thank all who disagreed with me. They have given me something to think about.

I'm with TRTL and Pericles on graffiti in cities.
Councils could probably save time and money, too, if they leave graffiti artists be.

Unless a piece is offensive, there's no real point in cleaning it or painting over it. Blank spaces won't stay blank for long.
What's the worst that could happen?

Perhaps apart from some areas, let graffers take over the blank spaces on non-private property like walls (even trains).
Even just as an experiment- let's see what happens over a couple of years.
Then evaluate how much money was saved over this period?
Does the city look worse at the end of the experimental period?

Yes, some graffiti is ugly, and mere tagging is boring, but everything is temporary anyway.

I wonder if there would be some kind of space invader war between the graffiti artists and the graffiti vandals.
Graffiti artists would, I assume, naturally show respect for each other's tagged pieces, but vandals will be there regardless, whether the wall is blank or not.

I'm annoyed by litter more than anything else- litter bugs and tossers really spoil the environment.

Graham,

You're too hard on yourself.

Dear David,

This is my final say on billboards:
(tongue-in-cheek)

"Why I like Sylvester is because he acts so tough,
He's well built, good looking, and quite often rough,
He's a guy who never loses, defeat's not his game,
He's a real Italian hero who's definitely not lame.

Rocky, Rambo, Cobra, are names by which he's known,
But the best one of them all is none other than Stallone,
Put the two together, Sylvester and Stallone,
And what you get is the toughest fighter the screen has ever known.

Fighting for good causes, for justice, to be free,
Fighting for the underdog, for folks like you and me,
And as we leave the theatres, we look up at the sky,
And up there on the billboard,
It's him, oh, what a guy!"

Dear Foxy,

Last time I put my tongue in cheek I bit it.

Dear David,

Last time you put your tongue in cheek you bit it?

Well, you must have more teeth than me.
(hee hee hee).