View allAll Photos Tagged proactive
My first 52 week installment into the new year. It feels glorious.
In the last picture I uploaded on Flickr I made mention that I was going to make French Onion Soup today. Being the proactive fellow that I am, I made a grocery run yesterday evening in preparation for today.
One of the main ingredients in this "French Onion soup" is well ... onions. Recently, I've been dreading cutting onions because the caustic fumes have been killing my eyes (never really bothered me before). Hey, I'm here to keep it real. I ain't no chump, but this little bulbous root kicked my butt! The onions don't even necessarily make me cry, though sometimes my eyes do get watery; more than anything, my eyes burn. Last time my eyes burned so bad, I found myself in the bathroom flushing my eyes out with water for ten minutes. Bad times.*
Now that you all know about the lovely attachment I have to onions, I can easily say that I was naturally a bit hesitant to cut three large onions for todays soup. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad this time around. I was wrong. So wrong.
My eyes burned for a good while (only one onion in!). My tears were invisible, believe me. But it had to be done. This soup was not about to make itself, right? Right! Marching onwards, soon as I got these bad boys [onions] all chopped up I sautéed them for half an hour. They smelled so good as they slowly began to caramelize.
To make a long story short, the soup turned out awesome. My mom liked it too -and this says a lot. My mom and I ended up having this soup for dinner with a some mean grilled cheese sandwiches we whipped up. In addition to the soup, I toasted some slices of french bread topped with a melted a parmesan and gruyere cheese mix.
What is your favorite soup? French Onion soup is pretty high on my list, next to fresh clam chowder!
I am getting a bit excited for a trip to Las Vegas -I will be leaving for on the 15th of this month.
I haven't been there since I was ... four feet tall, haha. I am going with Molly, and her sister. Quite frankly, I don't remember much of anything pertaining to Las Vegas. So I have that to look forward to later this month.
I hope this new year has started off well for all of you! I also look forward to following all of you this year! Keep shootin' everyone!
Oh, and by the way, while on the brief topic of shooting. I thought it might be kind of cool to meet some of you. Maybe, some of you fellow Flickr-roo's from the Bay Area. Not that I don't want to meet those of you who don't hail from the Bay Area (I would love to), but understand I'm coming from a reasonable local point of view for convenience and practicality sake. We should all get together and shoot sometime.
*insert face palm
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Lighting: Ambient from skylight pictured, window subject right camera left, Canon 430EX immediate camera right shoot thru @ 1/4 triggered via poverty wizards.
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
Publix #220
Hernando West Plaza
1400 Pinehurst Dr.
Spring Hill, FL 34606
Opened on June 19, 1980, the first Publix in Spring Hill and the 239th store in the chain.
Before this store opened, Spring Hill residents desiring to shop at a Publix had to either travel to # 10 (the third) in Brooksville 18 miles northeast, or #172 (the first) in Bayonet Point/Hudson 10 miles south.
Built as a 1970s version 2 store, instead of the typical raised white wood panels and gray stone on the facade, this store's facade featured a flat, natural wood look with a river rock panel.
Being the first major shopping center in Hernando County along US 19 and wanting to avoid the hodgepodge commercial development patterns further south in Pasco and Pinellas counties (and the traffic-choked highway which resulted from that), developers proactively extended Pinehurst Drive south from Spring Hill Drive to Applegate Drive in 1979. As a result, Pinehurst became a de facto frontage road for US 19 so shoppers wanting to enter the plaza would not need to get on US 19. Driving through Hernando County along US 19, most major commercial centers are served by frontage roads, with access mostly at stoplights.
Hernando West's original anchors in 1980 were Publix, Eckerd's (later a Dollar General and now Sheriffs Ranches Thrift Store), and Masters catalog showroom (now Bealls Outlet).
In 1992, Publix sought to acquire the rest of the southern end of the plaza (11 storefronts) for expansion, but was met with much resistance. As a compromise, Publix acquired the lease to one adjacent storefront, did some creative reshuffling along the frozen food wall, and did without a pharmacy (the only non-pharmacy store in Hernando County) in order to expand from 36,000 sq. ft. to 46,000 sq. ft. in 1994. As a result, Deli, Bakery, and Dairy moved into the new addition, Customer Service and restrooms were moved to the front wall from the old south/right wall, a new entrance was constructed with all display windows removed, and Frozen Food took over the old Bakery space.
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Facade. The two right hand panels were added, while the square P logo and "where shopping is a pleasure" slogan signage were removed during the 1994 expansion.
Because this store does not have a pharmacy, the phrase "SUPER MARKET" is on the bottom center of the facade, although the signage is obscured by a tree in this photo.
During December, Network Rail discovered that the cutting here was prone to a catastrophic landslip and emergency works were undertaken to strengthen the earthworks. Fortunately, most of the work took place when traffic levels reduced around the Christmas and New Year period, as two of the four running lines had to be closed off.
As I write this, the works should have now been completed, but today there is disruption on the SWR network as very high winds have brought a number of trees down.
Woking, Surrey
29th December 2023
20231229 IMG_3754
We no longer live in or accept being a proactive society, we rather have a reactive society which is guided by emotions and slower progress than a proactive society that can move faster.
Week #47
This week, I had another opportunity to work on a fashion photoshoot.
Laurelle got in touch in september asking me if I was interested shooting with her. Well if you have a look on her portfolio, you'll see that she is the kind of model that make your life easy on set. She is very proactive, need very little direction and bring a real presence in front of the camera.
Unfortunately I couldn't make it in September so we booked something for October.
I build a team around this project with Kim (the makeup Artist) and Weena (the hairstylist).
I wanted to work with Kim for a while and I'm happy we finally had a chance to work together on this project. And Weena…well, she is just amazing. She continues to amaze me since our first gig last week.
So everything was perfect. I even got some time to go out and scout for location.
We met a the studio for the makeup and hair (and some clean studio shots) and then we moved to the location. The only parameter that was wrong was…the WEATHER! Yes again!
It was freezing and there was an insane wind… Believe me really insane. Did I mentioned that at some point, the rain decided to join us?
No need to say that we had some tough times.
Anyway we were able to do 3 different looks and to pull something out of it!
Thanks again to Kim and Weena who also helped me with the lights.
Have a nice week
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Semaine #47
Cette semaine, j'ai encore eu l'opportunité de réaliser un photoshoot fashion.
Laurelle m'a contacté au mois de septembre me demandant si j'étais intéressé à shooter avec elle. Et bien si vous jetez un coup d'oeil à son portfolio, vous verrez que c'est le genre de model qui vous rend la vie facile sur un shoot. Elle est très proactive, n'a presque pas besoin d'être dirigée, et a une vraie présence devant la caméra.
Malheureusement, je ne pouvais pas en Septembre, du coup on a booké quelque chose pour le mois d'octobre.
J'ai construit mon équipe autour de ce projet avec Kim (la maquilleuse) et Weena (la coiffeuse).
Je voulais travailler avec Kim depuis un moment et je suis heureux que nos agenda aient finalement pu coïncider. Et Weena…eh bien, elle est juste extraordinaire. Son travail n'arrête pas de m'impressionner depuis notre premier shoot la semaine dernière.
Tout était donc parfait. J'avais même eu un peu de temps pour aller repérer l'endroit du shoot.
On s'est retrouvé au studio pour le maquillage et la coiffure (et quelques images clean en studio), puis nous nous sommes rendus au lieu du shoot. Le seul paramètre qui n'était pas comme on le souhaitait était…la MÉTÉO! Oui encore!
Il faisait froid and il avait un de ces vents de folie… croyez-moi un vent de folie. Ai-je mentionné que la pluie s'est jointe aux festivités à un moment?
Pas besoin de vous dire qu'on a galéré.
Enfin, on a quand même pu shooter 3 looks et en sortir quelque chose de potable!
Merci encore à Kim et Weena qui m'ont également assisté avec les lumières.
Passez une bonne semaine.
Model: Laurelle
Makeup: Kim Lachapelle
Hair: Weena Jerome
Strobist info
Key Light 430EX @ 24mm, 1/4 power with full CTO gel in a 43" Westcott Qpollo Orb, camera left @8:00
Kick Light 430 EXII @50mm, 1/4 power with blue gel, camera right @3:00
Triggered by Pixel Pawn
Canon 5D MKII + EF 35MM F1.4 L | F1.4 | 1/30 | Iso 400
Your comments and favs are always appreciated!
Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
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It's so sad to read some posts in flickr wherein our big brothers are misinterpreted. They
are just by all means want to share bright ideas in order to get into explore which somehow makes flickring more inspiring, exciting, enjoyable and rewarding-- not just like other sites. What's wrong with learning with other people? What's wrong with growing up with them? What's wrong with finding new friends? I have encountered secret terrorists accounts in flickr, mentally harassing me and even destroyed my friendships with other groups. I was so young in flickr then that in a way, the said accounts affected me.
I took the advice of Mr. CEO who is in flickr...that was just to IGNORE them. Many thanks to my flickrmates and flickr who made swift action to discipline them.
I can proudly say that through flickr with the help of my flickrmates I myself have improved much in the field of photography. I become more interested in this field as proven by my great interest in reading magazines about photography. My curiosity of some terms (in photography) being used is awakened --improving my vocabulary..hehehe, such as bokeh, macro, depth-of-field,..etc.
I only hope that flickr will be more fair in imposing discipline among us.
Biker&buildings, reflected in a puddle in Amsterdam.
This biker is a typical specimen/woman of us proud, proactive Amsterdammers, we bike through the toughest Winters, we pass&ignore hundreds of pretty Prostitutes sitting in their windows, waving their merchandise at us and we smash into the ever-present&stoned tourists when they stumble into our path on a daily basis, while all we want to do is bike home and chill out on the couch!
One personal piece of advise for all the visitors to Amsterdam: If you hear the 'Bell-of-death' playing her old song in your back, jump aside and save both of us ugly scenes in our beloved streets in the best city in the world ;-P
A total of 120 firearms were taken off the streets of Greater Manchester in the last year as police continue to tackle the use of lethal weapons by organised crime groups.
Between April 2020 and the end of March this year, scores of firearms were seized as a result of proactive operations and planned raids supported by our Serious and Organised Crime Firearms Investigation Team (SOC FIT), who were launched in 2018 dedicated to tackling the use of illegal firearms in Greater Manchester.
The huge haul includes self-loaded pistols, shotguns and imitation firearms held by criminals to be converted into viable weapons including top-venting imitation guns, which GMP has seized 30 converted replicas of since April 2020.
Working alongside the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), we continue to tackle the conversion and supply of such legal blank-firing firearms into illegal, lethal ones.
Our response includes a proactive operation - codenamed Lyra - which was formed in July 2020 to investigate the supply and possession of such weapons.
Seven people have been arrested so far, and Scott Robinson, 43, from Oldham, was sentenced to a total of five years for possession of a converted imitation firearm in January.
Two further suspects have been charged as part of the operation and await trial later this year accused of conspiracy to supply firearms.
The crackdown has seen discharges in the county reduced from 85 to 71 during the last 12 months - equating to 16%.
One of the most significant district decreases was in Salford (-40%) after the inception of the Operation Naseby disruption hub over a year ago.
The SOC FIT supported a further six boroughs where shootings at least halved in 2020/21, including Wigan (down from nine to two), Bolton (down from five to one) and Tameside (down from four to one).
In Manchester, an increase in recorded discharges saw 10 in the first three months of 2021 in the north of the city alone, which led to a dedicated response between the SOC Firearms team and detectives from the City of Manchester North division.
It included a three-week blitz on organised crime at the end of March where several warrants were executed and 11 arrests were made, yielding three firearms, ammunition, over £150,000 in cash, and 10 kilos of class A and B drugs.
Twenty arrests have been made in total during the offensive, including Jack Modlinsky, 24, of Cheetham Hill, who was jailed for over five-and-a-half years last month when officers found £134,000 in cash, £8,000's worth of cocaine, and a knife during a warrant at his address as part of the action.
There has been just one discharge in the north of the city during the last 10 weeks since our robust response.
Officers continue to work alongside local partners to continue reducing gun crime in the region by targeting and disrupting organised crime activity across Greater Manchester.
Detective Inspector Simon Akker, head of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Firearms Investigation Team, said: "We've been working relentlessly in SOC FIT to really drive a wedge between organised crime groups and the possession, supply and use of weapons in Greater Manchester, which is one of GMP's top priorities.
"By seizing more firearms than there have been discharges in the last year or so, it shows that we are proactively taking the fight back to organised criminals to stamp out the use of guns on our streets.
"While we can quantify the amount of weapons we've recovered and the decrease in discharges, what we can't count is the amount of incidents that we have prevented as a result of the action we have taken - but I can confidently say we have stopped people getting shot.
"That said, three men lost their lives on the streets of Greater Manchester due to gun crime last year which is three too many and we know that our work must continue to intensify to reduce these incidents further.
"The vast majority of incidents are targeted and are not a threat to the wider public, but that does not reduce the level of fear and anxiety they feel when acts of gun violence occur in their community and we have a duty to ensure that the public remain safe - each of these guns recovered is another potentially lethal incident stopped.
"Our focus remains on taking strong action against those in society who brazenly involve themselves in the use, trade and criminal conversion of firearms in Greater Manchester and we will ensure that those we suspect of having such involvement will face prosecution and be taken from our streets."
Anyone with concerns or information about suspicious activity should report it to police online, if able, at www.gmp.police.uk or via 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.
Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Our Proactive Property Crimes Unit wrapped up another busy week with the arrest of two residential burglary suspects and the recovery of a stolen gun in #SouthHill. Last week, the victims called to report that their house had been burglarized and several items had been taken. The suspects had pried open the back door to gain entry. A neighbor’s surveillance video captured the suspects arriving and leaving in a white Cadillac sedan.
One of the victims later found her fiancé’s unique pair of Jordan shoes listed for sale online. The seller’s account also had a listing for the victim’s laptop, but it showed the laptop had already been sold. Deputies from the Proactive Property Crimes Unit contacted the seller and arranged to purchase the Jordan shoes. The seller told deputies he would be waiting for them at a parking lot in a white Cadillac sedan.
When deputies arrived and approached the car, they saw one of the suspects shoving a gun between the seats. The suspects were taken out of the car at gunpoint and arrested. One of them complained that cops are crazy for wasting time with small-time criminals like them.
The suspects had attempted to scratch the serial number off of the gun, but deputies were still able to read it. The gun had been reported stolen one week earlier.
#NotInOurCounty
Another 365 days to let the dust settle. To revel in complacency and apathetic affectations. A year to accomplish nothing, to waylay achievement and allow proactivity to deteriorate. Twelve months to stymie action and productivity... a vacation from propagation where the wheels fail to roll. To set upon garbage heaps and declare ourselves kings of passivity, vacationeers of privilege, pioneers of indifference. Another calendar's cycle to hide from accomplishment and disregard our individual hemispheres. Blankets of deception and false comfort.
But maybe for some others a time to grasp our lives and make them into something purer and better thought. Good intentions acted upon and selflessly carried out. Adopting causes, compassion, activity, and empathy. Aspiring to be more than what we are, and better than we know ourselves to be. A coming year to strive for achievment... to embrace fellowship and better our relationships. A time during which we can spend reflecting on our spirits, and compelling ourselves to be a model. To stand out, to impress without self-flattery or expect reward. To inpsire and fulfill not just goals but spiritual challenges and curb distress.
It's easy to get caught up in the former rather than work to live up to the latter.
"A painful awakening hurting like never before
How to process the pressure and stress?
How to give everyone more than they can take?
We are terrified to live... We are terrified to die"
Mayor Bill de Blasio announces the newly created Tenant Support Unit resolved its 1,000th tenant case since it launched in July 2015, keeping tenants in their homes and protecting affordable housing in fast-changing neighborhoods. The proactive unit goes door-to-door in neighborhoods across the city, informing tenants of their rights, documenting building violations, soliciting complaints related to harassment and eviction, and making referrals to free legal support whenever necessary. Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Washington Heights. Monday, February 29, 2016. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.
This photograph is provided by the New York City Mayoral Photography Office (MPO) for the benefit of the general public and for dissemination by members of the media. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial materials, advertisements, emails, products or promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the City of New York, the Mayoral administration, or the de Blasio family without prior consent from the MPO (PhotoOffice@cityhall.nyc.gov). Any use or reprinting of official MPO photographs must use the following credit language and style: “Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office”, as listed at the end of each caption.
Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffito, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).
Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). The term "graffiti" is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "sgraffito", which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into them. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek γράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".
The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Historically, these writings were not considered vanadlism, which today is considered part of the definition of graffiti.
The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.
Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world are 40,000 year old ones found in Australia. The oldest written graffiti was found in ancient Rome around 2500 years ago. Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was not considered vandalism.
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads:
Wet with cool dew drops
fragrant with perfume from the flowers
came the gentle breeze
jasmine and water lily
dance in the spring sunshine
side-long glances
of the golden-hued ladies
stab into my thoughts
heaven itself cannot take my mind
as it has been captivated by one lass
among the five hundred I have seen here.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls. When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration.
There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail.
Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s. Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.
The oldest known example of graffiti "monikers" found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?.
In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".
Modern graffiti art has its origins with young people in 1960s and 70s in New York City and Philadelphia. Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti. Eventually, throw-ups and pieces evolved with the desire to create larger art. Writers used spray paint and other kind of materials to leave tags or to create images on the sides subway trains. and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic Norman Mailer—others, including New York City mayor Ed Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight. The ‘taggers’ called what they did ‘writing’—though an important 1974 essay by Mailer referred to it using the term ‘graffiti.’
Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti; however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges.
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitarist Eric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington, north London in the autumn of 1967. The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall.
Films like Style Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and ZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
Main article: Commercial graffiti
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".
Tristan Manco wrote that Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich, graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration". Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities". Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of São Paulo today and 1970s New York". The "sprawling metropolis", of São Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti"; Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples", and to "Brazil's chronic poverty", as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture". In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently". Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised", that is South American graffiti art.
Prominent Brazilian writers include Os Gêmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak. Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichação and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the Gulf countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work. The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
Graffiti has played an important role within the street art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of the Arab Spring of 2011 or the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19. Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist Banksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in Palestine where some of his works are located in the West Bank barrier and Bethlehem.
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in Southeast Asian countries that mostly come from modern Western culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.
The modern-day graffitists can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece. This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one medium for graffiti. From this commodity comes different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and comes in virtually every color.
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface.
Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists Blek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 by Jef Aerosol in Tours (France); by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis
Tagging is the practice of someone spray-painting "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface" in a handstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists. yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up"
Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal
In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.
Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Recognized while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the Sri Lankan Civil War and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffitists Mathangi Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., has also become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville.
Graffitist believes that art should be on display for everyone in the public eye or in plain sight, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery. Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere form sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc. Art to them is for everyone and should be showed to everyone for free.
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing what one feels in the moment. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism. And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the Finnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of a Peugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.
Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store.
Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat". To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery.
Berlin human rights activist Irmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.
In Serbian capital, Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed former general of Serb army and war criminal, convicted at ICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnian War, Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thank to your mother". Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past". Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject of Bosnian genocide denial, at Balkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which young are being exposed to celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans inhabited by Serbs using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave. Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that Interior Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement". Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with graffiti creators and their supporters, blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way, and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.
A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.
In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan.
A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs. A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.
In China, Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted in Beijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.
In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones". From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in Ximending, a popular shopping district. graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to NT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation. However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."
In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a caning. The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding president of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.
In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.
In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrière supérieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.
In Budapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.
The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123 Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.
In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation, nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at Camperdown (2009)
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffitists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.[108][109] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere. Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a perspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.
In February 2008 Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in Auckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.
The graduation of four officers of the 19th Mounted Patrol Academy ceremony took place on Friday, April 29, 2016 at the Mounted Patrol facility located at 2089 Indian River Road.
During the ten-week Basic Riding Academy, officers learned equitation and sensory riding skills along with how to enforce and apprehend criminals while mounted on their horse. Each officer and horse is carefully matched according to his or her personalities and temperaments to form a good partner relationship.
The Virginia Beach Mounted Patrol Unit operates year round and performs many valuable functions for the department and the citizens of Virginia Beach. Throughout the tourist season, you will see the officers on horseback patrolling the oceanfront and resort areas on proactive, high visibility patrol. They assist with crowd management, finding lost children and providing enhanced public relations. Throughout the rest of the year, Mounted Patrol officers are active in patrolling many other areas of the city as possible such as town center, major shopping districts during the holiday season and neighborhoods where necessary due to crime concerns and citizen requests.
Photography - Craig McClure
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© 2016
ALL Rights reserved by City of Virginia Beach.
Contact photo[at]vbgov.com for permission to use. Commercial use not allowed.
The Ministry of Health’s committee on Zika in Trinidad has determined that any pregnant woman that tests positive for Zika is to be referred to the Mount Hope Women’s Hospital, a hospital that dedicates itself to obstetrics. Mothers and babies are monitored on a weekly basis to detect any anomaly in the fetus that might have been caused by the virus. The Ministry of Health’s committee on Zika has been proactively informing the general population on how to prevent the spread of the virus and how to eradicate breeding sites, with a special emphasis on informing pregnant women or women planning to get pregnant. So far, only one case of Zika has been referred to this hospital.
DI Simon Akker alongside some of the firearms we've recovered since April 2020
A total of 120 firearms were taken off the streets of Greater Manchester in the last year as police continue to tackle the use of lethal weapons by organised crime groups.
Between April 2020 and the end of March this year, scores of firearms were seized as a result of proactive operations and planned raids supported by our Serious and Organised Crime Firearms Investigation Team (SOC FIT), who were launched in 2018 dedicated to tackling the use of illegal firearms in Greater Manchester.
The huge haul includes self-loaded pistols, shotguns and imitation firearms held by criminals to be converted into viable weapons including top-venting imitation guns, which GMP has seized 30 converted replicas of since April 2020.
Working alongside the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), we continue to tackle the conversion and supply of such legal blank-firing firearms into illegal, lethal ones.
Our response includes a proactive operation - codenamed Lyra - which was formed in July 2020 to investigate the supply and possession of such weapons.
Seven people have been arrested so far, and Scott Robinson, 43, from Oldham, was sentenced to a total of five years for possession of a converted imitation firearm in January.
Two further suspects have been charged as part of the operation and await trial later this year accused of conspiracy to supply firearms.
The crackdown has seen discharges in the county reduced from 85 to 71 during the last 12 months - equating to 16%.
One of the most significant district decreases was in Salford (-40%) after the inception of the Operation Naseby disruption hub over a year ago.
The SOC FIT supported a further six boroughs where shootings at least halved in 2020/21, including Wigan (down from nine to two), Bolton (down from five to one) and Tameside (down from four to one).
In Manchester, an increase in recorded discharges saw 10 in the first three months of 2021 in the north of the city alone, which led to a dedicated response between the SOC Firearms team and detectives from the City of Manchester North division.
It included a three-week blitz on organised crime at the end of March where several warrants were executed and 11 arrests were made, yielding three firearms, ammunition, over £150,000 in cash, and 10 kilos of class A and B drugs.
Twenty arrests have been made in total during the offensive, including Jack Modlinsky, 24, of Cheetham Hill, who was jailed for over five-and-a-half years last month when officers found £134,000 in cash, £8,000's worth of cocaine, and a knife during a warrant at his address as part of the action.
There has been just one discharge in the north of the city during the last 10 weeks since our robust response.
Officers continue to work alongside local partners to continue reducing gun crime in the region by targeting and disrupting organised crime activity across Greater Manchester.
Detective Inspector Simon Akker, head of GMP's Serious and Organised Crime Firearms Investigation Team, said: "We've been working relentlessly in SOC FIT to really drive a wedge between organised crime groups and the possession, supply and use of weapons in Greater Manchester, which is one of GMP's top priorities.
"By seizing more firearms than there have been discharges in the last year or so, it shows that we are proactively taking the fight back to organised criminals to stamp out the use of guns on our streets.
"While we can quantify the amount of weapons we've recovered and the decrease in discharges, what we can't count is the amount of incidents that we have prevented as a result of the action we have taken - but I can confidently say we have stopped people getting shot.
"That said, three men lost their lives on the streets of Greater Manchester due to gun crime last year which is three too many and we know that our work must continue to intensify to reduce these incidents further.
"The vast majority of incidents are targeted and are not a threat to the wider public, but that does not reduce the level of fear and anxiety they feel when acts of gun violence occur in their community and we have a duty to ensure that the public remain safe - each of these guns recovered is another potentially lethal incident stopped.
"Our focus remains on taking strong action against those in society who brazenly involve themselves in the use, trade and criminal conversion of firearms in Greater Manchester and we will ensure that those we suspect of having such involvement will face prosecution and be taken from our streets."
Anyone with concerns or information about suspicious activity should report it to police online, if able, at www.gmp.police.uk or via 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.
Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
we no longer live in or accept being a proactive society, we rather have a reactive society which is guided by emotions and slower progress than a proactive society that can move faster.
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
A Tameside policing operation has cracked down on ASB with proactive patrols tackling everything from drug use to problematic street drinking.
A proactive policing operation was launched in June, with funding providing extra patrols across Ashton-under-Lyne and surrounding areas identified as having repeat offences, including local transport hubs and shopping spots.
Officers target these areas at peak times and further undertake disruption visits to pre-emptively stop incidents.
The operation has seen a crackdown and multiple actions and positive outcomes. July, August, and September saw a range of results in Ashton town centre, including 12 arrests, 28 stop-searches, 33 public space protection order warnings issued, and 30 logs responded to.
As an example of the reduction in quarter three of this year, August reported 30 incidents of ASB, while September recorded 10 – showing the positive effects of the ongoing work.
The operation has meant more patrols have been targeting the issues that the public care about and ensuring that criminals and anti-social behaviour are stopped in their tracks.
Tameside work.
As part of anti-social behaviour week, on Wednesday, neighbourhood officers in Ashton town centre secured two arrests on suspicion of possession of a Class B drug, which resulted in street cautions.
Further cautions were issued for someone smoking cannabis in public, while other people were provided with words of advice.
Sergeant Rob Froggatt, from GMP’s Tameside district, said: “People want to see officers out and about in the community, engaging with the public, and locking up those who disrupt their lives. Our operation is delivering exactly that.
“We know and appreciate just how much anti-social behaviour can disrupt people’s lives – whether it’s people taking drugs in public or intimidating people in town centres – and our work is designed to crack down on exactly those sort of offences.
“In addition to our own work, we liaise closely with partners in the community, including local charities and services, to ensure we stop ASB from progressing into more serious offences. Likewise, by conducting preventative engagement work, we can stop the offences from ever happening.
“If you are having issues with ASB, I would urge you to get in touch with your local team, who will be best-placed to offer advice and support on the issues you are having.”
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk
ah such beautiful weather here... trying to pull myself out of my listlessness. being proactive. and i think i just convinced my parents to send my amazing dog jack out for the summer and they'll pick him up when they come out for my birthday. *fingers crossed* i miss him so much!!!
{ july alphabet soup }
B is for bubbles!!
The 12C is a sports car with rear-wheel drive layout with a longitudinally-placed mid-engine. The 12C features a double wishbone and hydraulic suspension, the latter referred to as the ProActive Chassis Control. The car uses rack-and-pinion and electric power steering. The standard front brakes of the car feature a four-piston fixed calliper configuration, paired with a two-piece front rotor. The 12C uses a 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine codenamed "M838T", which was produced by Ricardo PLC in West Sussex, England. It produces a power output of 453 kilowatts (616 PS) at 7,500 revolutions per minute (rpm) and a torque output of 601 newton-metres (443 lb⋅ft) at 3,000 rpm, sufficient to give the car a 0–97 km/h (0–60 mph) acceleration time of 3.1 seconds and a maximum speed of 333 km/h (207 mph).
The 12C Spider is a convertible version of the MP4-12C with a retractable hardtop. Because the coupe was designed from the outset with a convertible version in mind, no additional strengthening was needed for the Spider and it weighs only 40 kg (88 lb) more than the coupe. McLaren has worked to keep the Spider's top speed 204 mph (328 km/h) close to the coupé's 207 mph (333 km/h) top speed and up to 196 mph (315 km/h) is possible roof down. Meanwhile, the dihedral doors of the coupé are retained
Anders Hallundbæk Mortensens oversigt
Nuværende Owner hos Uppercase (www.uppercase.dk)
Frontend Developer hos Aarstiderne A/S
Tidligere Frontend Developer hos ProActive A/S
eBusiness Manager hos Hestbæk Consult
Web Developer hos Kontrapunkt Online
Intern hos Kontrapunkt Online
Freelance mediadesigner hos Ventus (www.ventus.dk)
Web Developer hos Hello Group
Student Assistant, Web production hos Saxo Bank
Student web consultant hos Aalborg Universitet, Institute of Architecture & Design
Freelance webdesigner hos kjeldsen.it
Anders Hallundbæk Mortensen's report
Current Owner at Upper Case (www.uppercase.dk)
Frontend Developer at Aarstiderne A/S
Former Frontend Developer at ProActive A / S
eBusiness Manager at Hestbæk Consult
Web Developer at Counterpoint Online
Intern at Counterpoint Online
Freelance media designer at Ventus (www.ventus.dk)
Web Developer at Hello Group
Student Assistant, Web Production at Saxo Bank
Student web consultant at Aalborg University, Institute of Architecture & Design
Freelance web designer at kjeldsen.it
Mission Statement: Protecting Florida's natural resources and people through proactive and responsive law enforcement services.
Vision: To be recognized as the leading conservation law enforcement agency in the nation, set apart by strategic vision, clear missions, strong leadership and a professional officer corps.
Motto: Patrol, Protect, Preserve
Church Life Movie | "Awoken" | How Christians Break Free From the Shackles of Fame and Status
www.holyspiritspeaks.org/videos/awoken/
Her name is Chen Xi, and since she was little the education and influence of her parents and her schooling made her always want to stand out from the crowd and seek to be above others, so she was diligent in her studies and would spare no effort. After believing in God Chen Xi read a great deal of God's words and came to understand some truths. She saw that the only correct path in life is to believe in and follow God and became an enthusiastic seeker, and was very proactive in performing her duty. Chen Xi went abroad in 2016 to escape the pursuit and persecution of the Chinese Communist government, and needed to use English when performing her duty of spreading the gospel and bearing witness to God's work in the last days. She felt honored, and that she was a rare talent. Just as she was filled with confidence and was thinking of really making a place for herself in the church, she discovered that her brothers and sisters shared fellowship on God's words with light and that they had a better grasp of English than her. She didn't want to fall behind, so in order to surpass others and be looked up to and commended by them, she redoubled her learning efforts. A bit of time passed but she still didn't match up to the others. Chen Xi could not accept this reality and she found herself living every day within the pain of struggling for her name and personal benefit. She no longer had the heart to pursue the truth or focus on entry into life, and she was particularly unable to perform her duty well. She fell into pessimism and disappointment…. It was then that she came in front of God in prayer and read His words—the judgment and chastisement of His words awakened her soul and allowed her to clearly see the essence of reputation and status as well as the consequences of her being bound and afflicted by these things. She came to understand the significance of performing her duty, the true value of life, and what kind of life is true happiness. From then on she began to have proper goals to pursue and no longer be subject to the strictures of face or status. She also began to focus on pursuing the truth and fulfilling the duty of a creature to repay God's love …
Adult ♀ of Castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus, L. 1758). Some tick species are running around, actively hunting, looking for a host to feed on, such as Amblyomma or Hyalomma species.
I. ricinus is more like a "proactive waiter" species. By proactive, I mean that they have to climb on a plateform like a grass stem and then wait.
One can question their ability to choose the right place to wait is not an active strategy but compared to some Hyalomma species, it is still a "wait and see" strategy.
Some others tick species seam even less proactive, living near or inside the nest of their host, feeding whenever they like. Differents tick species, differents strategies. Ticks are awesome !
There is a nice review/opinion paper in Experimental and Applied Acarology by Igor Uspensky in 2002.
doi: 10.1023/A:1025303811856
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
Penn Power line workers replaced 21 wooden, double crossarms with a new, single fiberglass crossarm.
***UPDATE*** Ian and Julie are getting ready for baby, so doing some proactive planning before the big day. Thanks again guys!
Here is a deceptively sneaky score..a rare Dania nightstand from Merton Gershon, and his wily crew at American of Martisville. I dig the tall legs and sculpted support, along with all that cool space inside to...well.. just hide stuff.
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube. #Proactive #Vending #Machine
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
patron saint of road safety, football, young people, bachelors, purity, the poor and destitute, politicians, cyclists
feast day: October 5
Italian layman, bachelor and civil engineer who was proactive during World War II, helping those caught up in the bombings of Rimini and the surrounding cities. He was a committed Christian known for his devotion to acts of mercy and philantropy, his personal sanctity and integrity of his life.
He died tragically in a road accident at the age of only 28.
Officers tackling serious and organised crime in North Manchester have launched a dedicated multi-agency disruption hub in the district to crackdown on criminal activity in the area.
The hub was launched last month, in partnership with Manchester City Council, as part of ongoing Operation Haemus – formed in November 2019 following an increase in firearm discharges stemming from two main local criminal groups in CheethamHill.
As part of the Haemus hub, a team totalling 17 officers has been formed, consisting of experienced detectives, dedicated safeguarding officers, intelligence officers, and a team of proactive officers who are dedicated to the area in both plain and uniformed patrols.
The team will engage in a range of proactive activities to continue to reduce the prevalence of organised crime in the north of Manchester.
Today (Wednesday 16 December) a team of officers from the Op Haemus team were joined by GMPs Tactical Aid Unit & Tactical Dog Unit in performing an intelligence-led weapon sweep of the area of Mandley Park - on the Salford border.
Any discarded or hidden weapons, firearms or ammunition found in the area during the sweep will be recovered and examined potentially as evidence as part of the 12 ongoing investigations within Op Haemus.
In the first six weeks since the inception of the disruption hub, Op Haemus officers have made a total of 25 arrests, conducted 122 stop searches and have searched 15 houses.
During the same short period, the hub has already seized two viable firearms, large quantities of class A and class B drugs, and seized 13 vehicles.
In conjunction with Manchester City Council, the hub works closely with housing providers, social services, adult services and a number of other agencies in a multi-agency approach to tackle organised crime in North Manchester.
This includes working closely with partners in local authority to provide a range of safeguarding measures and care packages to protect and support vulnerable adults and children at risk of being targeted, coerced and victimised by criminal activity.
Superintendent Rebecca Boyce, of GMP’s North Manchester division, said: “The launch of the disruption hub as part of Operation Haemus is a very welcome introduction for the people of North Manchester, as it’s the latest in a series of proactive measures we’ve employed in recent months to tackle the blight of serious and organised crime in our community.
“It is important that we maximise the resources we have available to us, and we have ensured that we have a dedicated and skilful team working around the clock to disrupt the activity of criminal groups, while protecting the public that we serve.
“We have always been honest and open about the challenges that have presented themselves due to the complexities and developments during this operation, but we are confident that we are making a tangible difference on our streets which can be seen by the recent decrease in firearms activity.
“While disputes between local crime groups generally pose little wider risk to the general public, it is understandable that such incidents cause unease and distress in our communities and we hope that the innocent, honest, and decent people we serve feel reassured by this targeted and increased action we are taking in the district.
“As ever, we continue to urge members of the public to contact police with any information or concerns, knowing that it will be treated with the strictest confidence – we have high-visibility patrols that can be approached, or a dedicated phone number that can be contacted – and Crimestoppers is always available for those who wish to pass on information anonymously.”
Any information relating to Operation Haemus should be passed to police on 0161 8563548 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.
Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.
You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.
You can access many of our services online at www.gmp.police.uk
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
Paph. delenatii x P. Supersuk (William Mathews x sukhakulii)
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Closeup of staminode
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/4735149010/in/photolist-...
Registered by David W. Eickhoff and named for my wife Cindy. HAPPY 34th!
**NOTE**
While I enjoy orchids, as an environmentally conscious orchid grower in Hawaiʻi, I am proactive when it comes to removing and properly destroying any and all seed pods from the plants so as not to encourage their spreading into our fragile native Hawaiian forests.
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube. #Proactive #Vending #Machine
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
Proactive Acne Treatment Vending Machine, 9/2014, by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.
It's been a while since I updated the thread, since I'm more proactive on Facebook and Instagram (@archiveandfuture)
So far my progress has largely been restricted to refining imperfections, the most notable additions being the RCS thruster arms, the egress column 'coffin' and the central cruciform of the descent stage.
The plan is to detail the descent stage as it appears under the thermal blankets, meaning that builders will have the option to display the interior workings or not.
Yesterday (Monday 8 November) officers from GMP's Bury Neighbourhood Policing Team, alongside Bury community safety partners and other agencies launched Operation Saturn - a multi-agency proactive response aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and other crimes across the district.
The launch follows a recent increase in anti-social behaviour and crime involving young people across the district, including a series of knife point robberies in Bury town centre and a violent disorder at Radcliffe Metrolink station last month, both of which resulted in arrests.
The high-visibility operation will see neighbourhood and specialist officers working closely alongside partners and community stakeholders including youth services and TFGM staff to target specific hotspot areas of ASB & crime across the district.
The operation launched yesterday on the Central Neighbourhood and focused on Bury town centre, Bury East, Redvales and Moorside areas including the Bury transport interchange.
Chief Superintendent Chris Hill of GMP's Bury District said: "Operation Saturn is about getting back to basics and working with partners and communities in the right place and the right time to really make a difference.
"This is about high visibility and getting officers out onto the streets to listen to what our communities have to say and to help provide that protective and reassuring presence. It's also about sending a message to offenders that GMP is here and we will take action wherever it's needed to bring this type of offending right down.
"Yesterday's launch was a really positive step in our commitment to protecting our community and I very much look forward to seeing how this develops and improves over time."
Chief Inspector Jamie Collins of GMP's Bury district said: "The feedback from the Bury communities is that they don’t see enough neighbourhood officers policing there areas."
"Operation Saturn is about putting high visibility uniformed officers into the areas of concern and is just one of the positive steps forward in our pledge to prevent and reduce crime, harm and ASB.
"This operation goes back to the basics of policing and focuses on the importance of high-visibility patrols on our streets and ensuring we are engaging with members of the community, to both understand their concerns for the area and also offer advice and tips of how best to stay keep safe from harm.
"Our communities expect to see us on foot across the district and in their neighbourhoods and we are committed to making this a normality and making our Borough a safe and welcoming place to live."
Bury Council’s cabinet member for communities Councillor Richard Gold said: "We know there have been increasing concerns from residents about anti-social behaviour and it's important that residents feel safe and secure when they're out and about in their own homes. This initiative is great because will help to target those hot spot locations, and with lots of visible officers, will help in the overall fight against anti-social behaviour.
"Seeing more police out on the streets is definitely the way forward and very much helps with community reassurance and I look forward to seeing regular repeat operations of this kind in the area."