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Keats, Machiavelli and Truth
How our humanity (or our future) is distressingly contingent on context
ŌĆ£To betray philosophy is the gentle treason / of poets,ŌĆØ says Derek Walcott, the St. Lucian-born Nobel Laureate in Literature, in his poem, ŌĆ£XII.ŌĆØ His infinitive possesses a subtlety, for ŌĆ£betrayŌĆØ can mean to double-cross, yes, or it can mean to ŌĆ£inadvertently reveal.ŌĆØ So the actual ŌĆ£gentle treasonŌĆØ of poets is to pen a discreet philosophy.
Poets do suggest philosophical ideas. Thus, the English Romantic poet John Keats opines, famously, ŌĆ£Beauty is truth, truth beauty.ŌĆØ That line from his ŌĆ£Ode on a Grecian UrnŌĆØ is multifaceted enough to justify a thousand schools of aesthetics, from catwalk Gothicism to architectural minimalism, from Jackie KennedyŌĆÖs wardrobe and White House to JFKŌĆÖs promotion of the Green Berets and co-design of the livery of the jet-age Air Force One.
For that matter, aesthetics can inform sadism as much as it informs bodybuilding. Recall the photographs of Iraqis abused and tortured at Abu Ghraib prison a decade ago, and the ways in which their American captors posed them, like male Barbies, for ŌĆśironic,ŌĆÖ but gruesome effect. ŌĆśBaconesque,ŌĆÖ one might say.
Then again, the staging of crime scenes has been a staple of modern crime since Jack the Ripper conducted his Whitechapel of London outrages. A grisly Cubism gets enacted.
In practice, then, ŌĆ£Beauty is truth, [and] truth beauty,ŌĆØ is an insight that can back almost any policy or programme, or call to action or call to arms (if a leader can argue that desecration or dishonour ŌĆśthreatensŌĆÖ the nation).
Campaigns for national ŌĆśredemptionŌĆÖ and/or ŌĆśhygieneŌĆÖ can rely on the same verse. Thus, Martin Luther King could make colour-blind civil rights a moral crusade and use ŌĆśnon-violenceŌĆÖ to bear witness to the virtue of his cause. But so could the government of Alberta, between 1928 and 1972, pursue compulsory sterilization of targeted citizens in the name of eugenics.
Still, we cannot hold Keats ŌĆśaccountableŌĆÖ (a favourite word of todayŌĆÖs global political and economic classes) for the misapplication or misinterpretation of a brilliant aphorism that also combines two abstract nouns of inexhaustible meaning.
To say ŌĆ£Beauty is truthŌĆØ is about as definable as to say ŌĆ£War on Terror.ŌĆØ And if one can be invoked to explicate the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the other descriptor is in fact employed to support wet-job assassinations and worldwide surveillance.
(Come to think of it, in our time, the pseudo-Russian citizen Edward Snowden has demonstrated the force of KeatsŌĆÖ thought ŌĆō ŌĆ£Beauty is truthŌĆØ ŌĆō by alerting all that Uncle Sam had morphed into a digital Big Brother.)
As compelling as is KeatsŌĆÖ accidentally Machiavellian aesthetic, his English Romantic comrade Lord Byron provides a definition of history that is consummate: it is ŌĆ£the DevilŌĆÖs scripture.ŌĆØ
Jotted down in his ŌĆ£Vision of Judgment,ŌĆØ an acidic, satirical rejoinder to the poet Robert SoutheyŌĆÖs sycophantic paean to the dead George III, ByronŌĆÖs phrase is less abstract than KeatsŌĆÖ line, for it does allow for the symbolic ŌĆō ŌĆ£DevilŌĆÖs scriptureŌĆØ ŌĆō to tease our imaginations.
Indeed, given the several millennia of written records that we may research, ByronŌĆÖs supposition is arguably more verifiable than is that of Keats. No matter what our choice of clime or culture or chronicle, we are certain to find the Devil at work (or play); if not literally, then almost always ŌĆśin the detailsŌĆÖ of an event or in ŌĆśthe fine printŌĆÖ and footnotes of historians themselves.
For tutoring in these truths, one can consult Oliver ThomsonŌĆÖs A History of Sin. Thomson seems to canvass every sort of human society ŌĆō theocracy and republic, commune and kingdom ŌĆō only to determine that ŌĆśsinŌĆÖ is very much in the eyes of its beholders, and that we tend to swing from repression to license and back again once we have had either too many orgies or too many executions.
Yet, even the most self-consciously sophisticated and civil polities can lapse into barbarism, which is the likely point of the popular zombie films and ŌĆ£Walking DeadŌĆØ TV series: that our humanity is distressingly contingent on context.
In this sense, the oft-cited ŌĆślessons of historyŌĆÖ are not necessarily convincing, for they depend too much on too-fallible ŌĆśteachers.ŌĆÖ Thus, when ŌĆśwe the peopleŌĆÖ of the planet are lectured that one government is ŌĆśevilŌĆÖ and that another must be ŌĆśpunished,ŌĆÖ it is prudent to question the ŌĆśteachersŌĆÖ about their own ability to make moral judgments that are not hypocritical or cynical.
For instance, the historical ŌĆślessonŌĆÖ of dealing with a dictatorŌĆÖs stockpiles of noxious weapons is not only that Chamberlain-style ŌĆśappeasementŌĆÖ fails, but also that governments sometimes seize on spurious casus belli that okay even worse bloodshed and greater grief. The real lesson is not that ŌĆśdoing nothingŌĆÖ is wrong, but that reckless decisions can misfire.
The American historian James Joll said it best: ŌĆ£The tragedy of all political action is that some problems have no solution; none of the alternatives are intellectually consistent or morally uncompromising; and whatever decision is taken will harm somebody.ŌĆØ
History is the Devil that we must know well.
George Elliott Clarke is the William Lyon Mackenzie King Visiting Chair in Canadian Studies, Harvard University, and the Poet Laureate of Toronto. His newest book of poetry is Illicit Sonnets London: Eyewear, 2013.


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Let's face it, people get bored pretty easily, one of the best ways to deal with the boredom is by finding something to distract you. Games are a great way to keep yourself entertained when you're bored, but it can be a pain figuring out which games to play, which is why we have come up with a list of the five best online games to play when you're bored.
#5. 8 Ball Pool
This is a great game to play, even if you don't know how to play pool in real life, and it is a free game to play. You can play this game by yourself or with your friends, you can also play in tournaments and win some cool prizes.
#4 Rollercoaster Tycoon 3
The RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise has been a very popular one, and this is an excellent game to play, especially if you have some time to kill. In this simulation game, you get to build your own theme park and design your own roller coasters, while trying to make a little profit. The game also comes with an expansion pack that allows you to create your own water park, or a safari. Unlike 8 Ball Pool, this isn't a free game.
#3. William Hill Vegas
For those who would love to visit Las Vegas, but just don't have the time to make the trip. William Hill has many games to keep you entertained. You can play various casino games, like Blackjack, Poker, and Slot machines. This is an online gambling site, so you will have to deposit some cash to play but their payouts are fairly quick.
#2. Counter Strike
This is the number one online action game, so if you are an action junkie, this is the game for you. In this realistic game, you play as a counter strike operative, and you have to engage terrorists, rescue hostages, and destroy enemy targets. You can play by yourself, or team up with others to complete missions. This is not a free game, but it is very reasonably priced and well worth it.
#1. RuneScape
If you are into medieval time fantasy games, then this is the game for you. Even if you aren't, a few hours of playing this game will change your mind. In this game, you play with millions of people worldwide to fight monsters and complete quests. The best part about it is that it is free.

subset: commoncrawl


text: On Tue, 2003-03-04 at 23:33, Samuel Bronson wrote: > Clark C. Evans wrote: > > >The (very clear) coding standards don't mention a preferred column width. > >Could it be possible to add a 76 column code wrap requirement. This is > >useful for those of us who use your aged 80 column terminals, and more > > > Or code at the console, or prefer 80 column emacs windows ;-) Right. The Twisted coding standards are clear ... but they shouldn't have to say everything: in the absence of explicit direction from the Twisted coding standard, the Python style guidelines should be followed (PEP 8 and PEP 257). >From PEP 8 (http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0008.html): There are still many devices around that are limited to 80 character lines; plus, limiting windows to 80 characters makes it possible to have several windows side-by-side. The default wrapping on such devices looks ugly. Therefore, please limit all lines to a maximum of 79 characters (Emacs wraps lines that are exactly 80 characters long). For flowing long blocks of text (docstrings or comments), limiting the length to 72 characters is recommended. Etc. - Steve.


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Galbraith, Brendan, Hytti, U and Mulvenna, Maurice (2011) Facilitating higher levels of SME participation in innovation and R&D: Recommendations from a large-scale EC FP7 study. In: Innovate-KT 2011, Sheffield. IKT. 1 pp. [Conference contribution]
Full text not available from this repository.
URL: http://inkt11.innovationkt.org/programme.pdf
The focus of this paper is to present the emerging recommendations from the MAPEER SME project. These recommendations have been developed from an iterative process that has comprised preliminary findings from the analysis of the MAPEER SME studies and interaction with the European Experts Panel. The European Experts Panel on SMEs (EEP-SME). EEP-SME was created to bring SMEs into the centre of the development processes of European Union's research programmes and initiatives. The Experts Panel gathers policy makers, SMEs representatives and other key stakeholders involved on The key activities of the Panel are: a) think-tank on new policies approach and disruptive ideas on how to stimulate SMEs involvement in R&D&i programmes and initiatives; b) discussion about the key objectives for the development and enhancement of SMEs advanced research; and c) communicate results of such discussions to DG Research; DG Enterprise and Industry; DG INFSO and the SMEs' stakeholders at three levels (regional / national / European).Finally, this paper concludes with 23 preliminary recommendations on best practices and rules of R&D&I programmes that will favour increased SME participation. It is anticipated that these findings will be invaluable to policy-makers, SMEs and other key players in the innovation ecosystems, such as universities and technology transfer intermediaries.
|Item Type:
|Conference contribution (Paper)
|Faculties and Schools:
|Faculty of Computing & Engineering
Ulster Business School > Department of Management and Leadership
Faculty of Computing & Engineering > School of Computing and Mathematics
Ulster Business School
|Research Institutes and Groups:
|Business and Management Research Institute
|ID Code:
|Deposited By:
|Professor Maurice Mulvenna
|Deposited On:
|12 Jun 2012 08:49
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|12 Jun 2012 08:49
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The Sask. Party must stop the secrecy and release Husky pipeline reports: NDP
Sask. Party must now act to address asbestos concerns in our schools
With the federal government committing to ban asbestos by 2018, the Saskatchewan NDP is renewing its call for the Sask. Party to get to work addressing the issues faced by the 500 Saskatchewan schools that are on the asbestos registry, starting with those with crumbling infrastructure.Read more
Costs continue to skyrocket for Sask. Party's carbon capture failure
Last week, the Premier continued with his grandstanding and twitter tantrums. While other premiers negotiated benefits for their own provinces, Brad Wall threw away Saskatchewan's voice and what was left of the Sask. Party's credibility on the national stage. This week, more issues were revealed about the growing problems and costs of the Sask. Party's $1.5 billion carbon capture scheme.Read more
NDP calls on Sask. Party to finally address childcare
Families, children, and the Saskatchewan economy are all paying the price for the Sask. Party's abysmal record and refusal to act on childcare.Read more
Reality Check: Wall still all talk and no action when it comes to climate change and pipelines
Brad Wall used to dismiss First Ministers meetings as a 'race to the microphone' but now he's at the front of the line. He's excited to deliver his Twitter tantrums orally and seems unconcerned about blowing Saskatchewan's credibility in the process.Read more
Statement by the Saskatchewan NDP on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
Today, the Official Opposition critic for Women Nicole Sarauer made the following statement to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women:Read more


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Wimbledon lessons in 100 sentences
LONDON -- Well that was one humdinger of a fortnight, was it not? The top seeds were gone before business had really begun and some low seeds hung around a lot longer than we thought. It is what it is. Nonetheless, each major is its own nasty bird, and this year's Wimbledon Championships were no different.
From Novak Djokovic's heart-pounding win to the bizarre chain of events in the Serena Williams doubles fallout, these two weeks told us a lot about the state of today's tennis game -- for better or for worse.
But perhaps the most interesting manifestation from all the madness came via all the crushing serves that were a real chore to break. So much so that the first set of the fourth-round tilt between Stan Wawrinka and Feliciano Lopez produced the 100th tiebreaker of the tournament. Amazingly, this is the first time in the history of Grand Slam play that that number has been hit.
Sticking with the centennial theme, here are the top 100 storylines from this year's event in ... 100 sentences:
1. A tough start for 2011 US Open winner Slammin' Sammy Stosur, who was bounced in her opening match.
2. At least another former major champion, Victoria Azarenka, won a match before losing in the second round.
3. As did Ernests Gulbis, who fell in his second match after a swift run to the French Open semis.
4. A bad day for Gulbis, but on the bright side, he now has a lot less money to gamble away.
5. Although, to be fair to Gulbis, he said his gambling allegations were "b-------" and that we the media "can write that."
6. Done -- just like Sloane Stephens, who was schooled by Maria Kirilenko in the first round.
7. Speaking of school, Samantha Murray, the only women in the field who had any college experience, was waxed by Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-0 also in the first round.
8. But at least Murray left the tournament in good spirits, unlike eccentric Frenchman Benoit Paire.
9. After losing his opener, Paire said, "Simply, I hate Wimbledon, and I'm glad to leave as soon as possible."
10. Also losing in the first round was former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone, an Italian who dropped a tight two-setter to Ana Ivanovic.
11. But the Italian who made the most noise was firecracker Fabio Fognini, who was fined $27,500 for knucklehead behavior.
12. And then there was Bernard Tomic, also one of the wayward boys of tennis and a quarterfinalist here three years ago, who was booted out of Wimbledon in the second round.
13. For his efforts, Tomic will drop out of the top 100 when the ATP rankings are released Monday.
14. Tomic, still only 21 years old, at least has plenty of good years left in this game.
15. Unlike 37-year-old Jamie Delgado, who competed in his record 23rd consecutive Wimbledon Championships.
16. More impressively, Delgado didn't just play doubles with partner Gilles Muller -- he coached the Luxembourgish player too.
17. But Muller ran into Roger Federer in the second round, and that was the end of that dream.
18. With his run to the final, Federer has now ended the dreams of no fewer than 61 different players in his 16 years at the All England Club.
19. That doesn't seem entirely fair, nor were the comments Virginia Wade made in calling Andy Murray's new coach, Amelie Mauresmo, "a little mentally fragile."
20. But Murray didn't dignify Wade's comment with a response, even though she once called the Scot a drama queen.
21. No more drama than the two-day battle between Sam Querrey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which ended with the Frenchman winning 14-12 in the fifth set.
22. Perhaps the most entertaining five-setter came via Nick Kyrgios, who, heroically, saved nine match points to knock off No. 13 seed Richard Gasquet.
23. In all there were 22 five-set matches this fortnight, the longest of which was the Jeremy Chardy-Marinko Matosevic marathon, which lasted 4 hours, 15 minutes.
24. Long doesn't begin to describe Lydon Sutcliffe, the skyscraping 7-foot-1 groundsman known around the Club as -- you guessed it -- "the tall man of Wimbledon."
25. Legend has it that Sutcliffe is a popular figure around here, as is another tall guy, 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, but he had a short stay in London, losing to Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic in a straight-sets first-rounder.
26. It only got worse for the Karlovic, who, on his flight back home, tweeted that "someone next to me was passing gas the whole time."
27. Karlovic then went on to accuse the guy in orange shorts to his left for producing the funk.
28. Given those orange shorts, Captain Smelly Pants obviously wasn't competing at Wimbledon -- unless he was able to somehow circumvent the crackdown on white clothing this year.
29. That meant no colored wristbands, undergarments or socks.
30. As it turns out, there weren't many socks at all, as Jack Sock fell to Milos Raonic in the second round.
31. For Raonic, who reached the semifinals, the ceiling is sky high.
32. And speaking of ceilings, this happened to be the five-year anniversary of the Wimbledon roof.
33. Would you know, the roof was first closes this season on the first Thursday of the tournament so Federer could finish off Muller.
34. Which happened to be the same day Rafael Nadal avenged his stunning loss to Lukas Rosol from two years earlier.
35. Although Nadal generated some controversy by taking 25 seconds between serves against the Czech -- when the rule clearly states 20 seconds is the limit.
36. Of course, that saga dovetailed into whether tennis would ever implement a shot clock.
37. Chances are the decision-makers aren't ready to go in that direction quite yet.
38. But One Direction that remained undeterred this fortnight was showcasing celebrities, including ... Niall Horan, who made a Wimbledon appearance.
39. Fans flocked to see the musician, who signed autographs at St. Mary's Walk.
40. Including the now famously single Caroline Wozniacki, who said the highlight of her day was taking a selfie with Horan.
41. Not to be outdone, Grigor Dimitrov was all by his selfie eating breakfast this past Thursday morning at the Brew up in Wimbledon Village.
42. The next day, he promptly escaped firecracker Alexandr Dolgopolov in five sets.
43. Hats off to the Bulgarian star, who has garnered fame outside his tennis prowess because of his choice in women.
44. As we all know, we're talking Sharapova, who now has her very own Sugarpova store in the village.
45. It's pretty sweet, if you know what we're saying, unlike Li Na's tennis game, which went wildly off track.
46. The Chinese star fell to Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova, who snapped an awful 0-24 streak against top 10 players in the third round.
47. That's a crazy stat, but not as crazy as the one Lleyton Hewitt set by playing in his Open-era record 42nd five-set Grand Slam match.
48. Although Hewitt lost that match to 2013 semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz, which was a disappointing end for the 2002 champ.
49. Equally disappointing was No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych, the unpredictable Czech, who was ushered out by Marin Cilic in three sets.
50. When it became so dark that even the Hawk-Eye review system stopped functioning, Berdych vented his frustration until the match mercifully ended at 9:38 p.m. local time, the latest outside-court finish ever at the All England Club.
51. But for Cilic, it was sweet redemption for a guy who withdrew from Wimbledon a year earlier citing a knee injury, though it was widely speculated he had been suspended for doping.
52. Cilic took a precipitous tumble in the rankings after that episode, but not as nasty as the tumble Novak Djokovic took in the third round against Gilles Simon.
53. But the top-seeded Serb recovered, unlike Venus Williams, who lost a taut three-setter to Petra Kvitova in the third round.
54. Make that three years and counting since Venus has reached the second week at Wimbledon.
55. And you can make the two years and counting since sister Serena Williams has made the quarterfinals.
56. After winning the first set 6-1 in their third-round clash, Serena was stunned by Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who now has beaten Williams twice this season.
57. If you're doing the math, that's three major appearances and not a solitary quarterfinal appearance to Williams' name this season.
58. Unlike Zahlavova-Strycova, who reached her very first Grand Slam quarterfinal (in her 33rd try) without dropping a single set.
59. However, Janowicz, a grass-court stalwart, unexpectedly lost three sets in a disappointing third-round loss to Tommy Robredo.
60. French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic also fell in the third round, a dreary end for the German who is finally healthy.
61. Not at dreary as middle Saturday in which inclement weather stopped play for more than six hours on the outer courts and wreaked havoc with the schedule.
62. The delay appeared to be good news for the last American woman standing, Madison Keys, who had hurt her left thigh late that day in a match against Yaroslava Shvedova.
63. But ultimately, the delay postponed the inevitable, and Keys announced she was too injured to continue her match and withdrew.
64. She then announced she would check out of the game for a couple weeks to rehabilitate.
65. And though Keys checked out for a while, the Czechs sent four women to the fourth round of a major for the first time in the Open era.
66. That's a whole lot better than the Americans, who failed to send a man or woman to the round of 16 for the first time since 1911.
67. This despite John Isner's tournament-high 52 aces in a four-set loss to Feliciano Lopez.
68. It was good effort, unlike the one No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska put up in an ignominious fourth-round 6-3, 6-0 loss to Ekaterina Makarova.
69. Wozniacki then joined Radwanska as Super Monday victims, and after the match the Dane was none too pleased with the pace of play and said her opponent was taking too long between points.
70. And then just a couple hours later, Tsonga failed to keep pace with top-seeded Djokovic, and the Frenchman fell in three.
71. That was nothing compared to what happened to the two French Open champions a day later, when both Sharapova and Nadal lost.
72. Sharapova, perhaps the most resilient player in the game, saved six match points before falling to Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.
73. Just as the dust was settling from that upset, Nadal was knocked around by the 19-year-old swashbuckler Nick Kyrgios in four sets.
74. The upstart Aussie, who smacked 37 aces, caused quite a stir around the All England Club with a performance that harkened back to the days of a young Boris Becker.
75. That stir was nothing compared to the distressing exit by Serena Williams, who was so disoriented she couldn't serve a ball over the net in doubles.
76. Rumors ran rampant, but the official word from the club was that Serena had been suffering from a viral illness.
77. One player who was not feeling queasy at all that day was Wawrinka, who unloaded 31 aces on Lopez to advance to the quarterfinals and set up a date with countryman Federer.
78. The Slam King took down the defending Aussie champ in four sets to reach his ninth Wimbledon semifinal.
79. That is eight more than Raonic, who navigated to his first final four with 39 aces in a win against Kyrgios.
80. Also advancing to his maiden major semifinal was the Bulgarian Dimitrov, who shellacked defending champ Murray in three sets.
81. Afterward, Murray said he had a lot of work to do because the young guns are finally beginning to live up to their potential.
82. One guy who showed flashes of his enormous potential was Cilic, who took Djokovic to five sets in the quarterfinals before bowing out.
83. Not to be outdone was Eugenie Bouchard, the only player on the WTA who has reached all three semifinals this season.
84. She faced off against Simona Halep, the French Open runner-up, in a scintillating semifinal that the Canadian won in straight sets.
85. This set up a clash with Kvitova, who surpassed fellow Czech Lucie Safarova in the other semifinal.
86. Kvitova, who had just four total match wins since the 2011 Wimbledon, finally found her form again.
87. The women's final would feature two diametrically opposite players, but the matchup was the first time two players born in the 1990s squared off for the championship.
88. Although young was the central theme in the women's final, the 32-year-old Federer was busy becoming the third oldest player to ever reach the Wimbledon final with a thorough thumping of Raonic.
89. Against the Canadian wunderkind, Federer failed to drop serve a single time and needed just more than 100 minutes to advance.
90. With his win, Federer reached his ninth final at the All England Club and extended his own record.
91. In all, semifinal Friday was a remarkable day, one that set up a scintillating final between Federer and Djokovic -- the first time they met in a Grand Slam final since the US Open seven years ago.
92. For Kvitova and Bouchard, it was their first major meeting in a finale, though we can only hope any future meetings are more competitive after the Czech's dominant 6-3, 6-0 win.
93. The match lasted only 55 minutes, the shortest Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf beat Monica Seles 6-2, 6-1 in 1992.
94. Kvitova earned a cool $3 million for her stellar two weeks of work -- the richest payday in women's Slam history.
95. Vasek Pospisil and Sock also had a nice payday after a stellar two weeks, capped off by a 7-6 (5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over the Bryan brothers in the men's doubles championship.
96. That was a far more exciting final than Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci's lopsided 6-1, 6-3 win against Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the women's doubles title bout.
97. But not nearly as exciting as Djokovic's 3-hour, 56-minute, five-set win against Federer, which earned him his second Wimbledon title.
98. It was more heartbreak for Federer, who on this exact day six years ago, lost to Nadal in what is arguably the greatest match of all time.
99. But more euphoria for Djokovic, who will again take over the world No. 1 ranking.
100. That accomplishment, however, pales in comparison to the Serb's seventh Grand Slam title, which ties him with John McEnroe and Mats Wilander among others.


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Throwback Thursday is Juicy from the Notorious B.I.G. off his debut album Ready to Die. Chose this track seeing his birthday is Friday and he would've been 40 years old, but he died on March 9, 1997 from gunshot wounds. http://youtu.be/_JZom_gVfuw ... [read more]
Throwback Thursday 5/24/2012
May 24, 2012 By


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sewer backup and stench
I had a sewer back-up in a rental property. The tenants did not tell me about the problem. The sewer debris sat on the basement floor apparently for sometime. The stench was unbearable! They eventually moved (Thank God!) I had the sewer snaked and it appears to be running smoothly. I eventually had the floor power washed and a concrete skim laid over the existing floor. I have two questions: how do I get rid of the sewer flies and the stench? It occurred to me that I had the basement snaked with I purchased the property in 2005. Why does this problem continue to recur? Could it be the nearby trees and how do I find out? The last plumber said there appeared to be lots of gook and grease. Now that the water is flowing how long can I expect it to last. The last tenants are not very friendly and/or talkative about the subject. Thanks for any advice...
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Normally, the cause of a sewer back up is the accumulation of solids in the main drain line from a house, mostly from the kitchen sink.
Here's how the drainage piping in a typical house is set up:
There's a pipe that runs vertically from just below your basement concrete floor to just above the roof shingles where it's open to the atmosphere. That pipe is typically called your "vent stack". At the bottom of the vent stack, the pipe will bend through an angle of almost 90 degrees and head at a shallow downward angle toward the main sewer buried about 16 feet under the middle of the street your house is on. Near the bottom of the vent stack there will be a "clean out cap" on your basement floor which allows you to clear that gradually down ward sloping drain pipe under your basement floor. Similarily, the plumbing code will require a clean out at every change in direction of that drain pipe under your basement floor.
All of the drains in the house drain into that "vent stack". Often, however, drain pipes will connect directly to the gradually sloping pipe that comes off the bottom of the vent stack.
That gradually sloping pipe gradually clogs up with solids, mostly from your kitchen sink, so it's a good idea to clear the drain line from your house every 10 years.
Now, buried around the perimeter of your house at the depth of your foundation footing will be "weeping tiles". These weeping tiles allow any excess water in the soil around your house's foundation to drain into the weeping tiles so that there's no pressure driving that water THROUGH your house's foundation into your basement. The water that is collected in those weeping tiles will flow either to a "catch basin" (which looks for all the world like a floor drain on your basement floor) or a sump pit in your basement. Years ago, they allowed catch basins to be connected directly to the drain pipe that carries all the dirty water (and sewage) from your house. So, the catch basin will have a P-trap on the bottom of it, and will then flow to that gradually sloping pipe that comes off the bottom of your vent stack if you have an older house.
Now, as mentioned, that gradually sloping drain line that comes off the bottom of the vent stack will clog up with solids from your kitchen sink after a while. If the drain pipe from your basement catch basin connects to that drain pipe upstream of where it can be partially clogged with solids from your kitchen sink, you can have a problem.
What happens is that if that gradually sloping drain pipe is partially clogged with crap from your kitchen sink, then water from your toilet may collect upstream of the clogged section and back up the catch basin's drain pipe toward the catch basin. If someone flushes the toilet too often, or if the main drain line is too clogged up, the water from the toilets won't drain away passed the clogged section fast enough and will end up backing up into your catch basin, flooding your basement floor with sewage.
What you need to do is keep the main drain line (which is that gradually sloping pipe that comes off the bottom of your vent stack) from your house UNCLOGGED to prevent any backing up of your drain piping. I'd say if you hired a plumber to clear that main drain line once every 10 years, you should be safe.
Any time you see toilet paper floating in your basement floor catch basin, that's a sure sign that the main drain line needs to be cleared.
Maybe just draw a stick diagram while reading through this post to see if you can follow the piping layout, and post of you don't understand anything. Once you have the right piping in mind, the reason for the sewer backing up through the basement floor drain will be obvious.
Last edited by Nestor_Kelebay; 08-11-2008 at 12:03 AM.
Long-Time DIYer
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An excellent master description of a residential DWV system!
The other thing that may be occuring are rootballs or larger roots growing into your main underground drain pipe IF you have a sectional drain line such as cast iron.
If you have ABS black plastic or PVC white plastic line, roots cannot get into it unless you have a break in the line.
Snaking a line with roots growing into it will only clear it temporarily. Usually the snake will just punch through roots, and they'll quickly close back up.
"Roto-rootering" a line with roots in it will work for a year or two, then they will grow back. The best solution to root problems is to replace the line with solid plastic if allowed by code in your jurisdiction. (Some areas still require cast iron only.)
If snaking the mainline doesn't do the trick, you may want to hire a drain cleaning company with video inspection equipment to diagnose the problem.
Good luck!
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If what was already posted doesn't solve the problem, your sewer pipe may have a dip in the line or doesn't sustain pitch going out to the street/septic system for one reason or another. After my house was built something occured 11 years later under my sewer line going to the street causing it to dip (either settling, or something else). Solids collected in the dip, and over several months it eventually clogged completely and sewage would back up (and come out the tub in my basement).
I went to a plumbing place that has a a camera they can feed down a sewer pipe and snake it around to see exactly the problem, it has a tracking beacon in its head. We saw the dip and he left the camera in that spot and we went outside and with a sensor he was able to tell me within 1' exactly where the head of the camera was below... pointing me to exactly where the problem was. In my case I ended up having to replace the sewer pipe completely.
I ended up cutting and replacing all the bottoms of all walls including the framing of my basement to get rid of the stench/problem. That was hell, particularly the support wall.
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You've had some great replies to the question of why your sewer pipe backs up but only slight reference made to the stench problem.
Sewage backup requires perhaps the most extensive clean up protocols in the water damage industry because of the variety of issues you deal with; for starters, this is contaminated water - no matter how long it sat or how soon it was cleaned up - and therefore would be considered carrier of any type of bacteria. In such cases, any soft furnishings in the way of that sewage must be discarded...carpet, drywall, paper, upholstery, wood etc - anywhere where bacteria have touched. Then on relatively hard surfaces such as concrete, being porous, a thorough disinfection must be carried out. Finally, impervious surfaces such as glass, can be cleaned and disinfected normally.
Covering over the concrete with another layer of concrete won't solve this stench issue, repainting the drywall won't either. The whole area might have to be fogged or ozoned, but these are procedurees best left to pros.
The average American woman is about 25 pounds heavier than she was in 1960...Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately 1 in 3 Americans,
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Thank you...
Absolutely, the replies did not address the stench fully. I have tried everything! One thing I have yet to do and that is to cap off where there was a toilet. Would this help? It also sounds like I may need to call the guys with the camera and the professionals to get rid of the odor.
I am at my wits end. Thanks for everybody's replies.
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Water damage restoration companies see this all the time and have a way of cleaning it up, otherwise they'd be out of business, so maybe you on your own are overlooking something that a pro would spot. I mean it is common sense but there's more to being a water damage restoration pro than just cleaning carpet.
This is already a severe case; you're going to need tools that few homeowners have. It may be time to call in a deodorizing pro.
Cap the toilet? you mean there isn't a toilet now?
The average American woman is about 25 pounds heavier than she was in 1960...Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately 1 in 3 Americans,
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Did you ever notice how sometimes, something someone says in passing makes you think "WHAT!"
Like for instance when you just said casually and offhandedly:
"One thing I have yet to do and that is to cap off where there was a toilet. Would this help?"
Which, correct me if I'm wrong, means that there was a toilet in that basement, someone removed the toilet and left the toilet drain wide open!
Yes sir, stuffing a 7-11 Super Big Gulp cup in that toilet drain pipe will go 99% of the way to removing the stench from your rental property's basement. Maybe not 99%, but my guess would be that MOST of the smell in the basement is from that open sewer pipe.
Re: OPEN TOILET DRAIN PIPE:
I've had apartments stay empty for long enough that the water in the toilet bowl evaporated and the apartment stunk like the dickens when I first opened the door to show the suite to prospective tenants.
If you haven't already done it, also pour a cup of water into every drain in the house too. The p-traps under the drains are for that very purpose, to trap a small amount of water in the drain pipe to serve as a physical barrier between the stench in the drain piping and the air in the living space you breathe.
Normally, the water in a toilet's toilet bowl serves the same function as the small amount of water in a drain's P-trap, but since you're saying the toilet bowl is no longer there, there's nothing stopping the sewer gas in your toilet drain pipe from wafting up into the air you breathe and making your house's basement smell just like a sewer. That is, you're basement will smell just like a sewer so long as that toilet drain pipe is left wide open, even if you never had a sewer back up.
Stick a Super Big Gulp Cup in that open toilet drain pipe, open up some windows in the place and give it a day to air out. Then see what it smells like in there. No matter how much you clean it's going to smell like a sewer as long as that toilet drain pipe has been left unplugged.
Re: Hiring a Flood and Fire Restoration Company:
Also, here's what I'd do. Open your yellow pages to Fire & Flood Restoration Services and phone around to several of them to find out whether they buy their chemicals locally from the places listed under Janitorial Equipment & Supply in your Yellow Pages or if they use their own chemicals.
If they buy them locally from a Janitorial Supply store, then you can go to that same place, buy the same stuff, and the person selling it to you will tell you where, when and how to use it. This is especially true if it's a family or privately run business because private businessmen make more of an effort to learn about the products they sell than their hired help. Either that, or Google the company that makes the stuff, go to their web site to get their phone number, invest in a $5 long distance phone card so you can phone them for 4.3 cents a minute and phone up that company to get advice on where, when and how to use their cleaning products. (Normally, each Janitorial Supply store will sell several different brands of cleaning chemicals, and truth be told, there are instances where some products work better than others, but most times the similarities outweigh the differences.) Also, the preceding assumes the local Fire and Flood Restoration Service company won't be willing to give you advice on how to use those products, and in all liklihood they will. If you talk to the owner or manager and just ask what he would use on the floors and walls in your situation, most likely he'll tell you what they use, how they use it and who they buy it from.
But, quite frankly, what you'll find is that in the cleaning industry, it's the people working at the Janitorial Supply stores that are really the modern day troubadores of the cleaning industry. That's because if a custodian has trouble cleaning something, about the only person he has to turn to for help will be the guy he buys his cleaning supplies from. That retailer, in turn may know of someone else who had the same problem, and will probably remember how he solved it if he did. With the retailers being involved in so many cleaning problems and subsequently usually finding out "what worked best", the retailers acquire a great deal of knowledge as well. Certainly, they will be well aware of how their customers use their own products, but they'll also know what works well in particular situations that don't often come up, like sewer back ups. I think you will find that same kind of thing to a lesser extent in every industry, but it's particularily true in the cleaning industry because cleaning professionals really only have their suppliers and the sales reps of the companies whose products they use to turn to for help. So, the retailers, especially the people that own their own businesses, will always be "in the loop" when problems are encountered and will learn as much as the pros on their solutions.
If the Flood and Fire Restoration Service you phone use their own cleaning chemicals, then they almost certainly sell their chemicals to their customers for regular maintenance and follow up, as well as customers who want to save money by doing what they can themselves. I'll bet my dollars to your donuts that if you buy the cleaning chemicals they say you need from them, they'll give you all the advice you want or need about how use those cleaners tossed in free of charge.
That is, you don't need to hire an Fire and Flood Restoration Company to get the information and chemicals you need to do a proper job cleaning your basement. If you follow the advice of people who do that work, and use the same cleaners they use, you'll get the same results.
But, plug the toilet drain pipe and it might smell like it's clean as a whistle already.
The rest is just my own ramblings...
I am not a professional carpet cleaner. But, I own a commercial carpet extractor, I use Chem-Spec products (which are popular in the carpet cleaning industry) and I do as good a job on the carpets in my building as any pro would. And, I've never felt that any of the carpet cleaning contractors I've ever phoned up to get advice from ever "withheld" information from me because he knew he wouldn't make anything off me. In fact I've found the opposite. I've found them to be more than willing to share their knowledge with me, just as the pros in here share their knowledge with us. I've found every person in the cleaning industry willing to share their knowledge and experience with me if they had the time to do so, so I think all you need is to contact some of the places that do fire and flood restoration work and you'll be on your way before you know it.
Last edited by Nestor_Kelebay; 08-13-2008 at 01:08 AM.
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sewer back-up and residual issues
Guys: Nester and Carlise (sp)
You guys have been wonderful! I woke up this morning wondering if the issue was hopeless. I now feel re-energized and hopeful. I was wondering if my efforts were in vain. Thank you for the suggestions and more importantly the inspiration to feel confident about taking care of the stench. Someone also suggested to me that if the problem re-occurs that I should snake from the street back towards the house and then from the street to the main drain. Again, this back-up seems to be a recurring issue; I'd say about once a year or 6 months....
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I purchased a 3" test cap to cap off the toilet. It did not fit. It appears as though it is twice the size. Is the toilet opening that comes out of the floor a standard size? (I know I should know this but I have misplaced my measuring tape.) There was a cap on it at one time but when the sewer backed up it became too cruddy to save. (Please don't think my question to be 'dumb.' It's just that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.) Thanks for your assistance.
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I believe that you do not need any accistance right now and I believe that soon you will be ok yourself
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For the time being just stuff a 7-11 Super Big Gulp cup in the hole to determine if the smell is coming from that hole. Most of it probably is.
If there's no one living in that house, then the drain piping is probably all drained and dry all the way out to the city sewer, and the gas in the city sewer is coming up into your basement through that drain piping. Phone up any drain clearing company that offers a video service (most do nowadays) and have them run a camera into your house's main drain line out to the city sewer. If there is a problem that's causing the sewer back up, not only will the video camera tell a knowledgeable plumber what is actually wrong, but the length of line run out to the camera will determine where the problem actually is; under your cement floor, in your front yard, or under the street. Pay the extra $4 to get a VHS video made of your main drain pipe inspection so you can show it to a plumbing company so they can see it before they do anything. That way, they know what and where the problem is and what needs to be done to fix it before they begin. (I was quoted a price of $200 to do a video inspection of my main drain line, but that was a lont time ago when the service wasn't as commonly available.)
For the time being, just stuff something, anything, even a pillow, into the toilet drain pipe to stop the sewer gas from coming into your basement. Also, open up some windows and let the basement air out. Then you'll see how important it is to plug up open sewer drain pipes. And, pour a cup of water into each drain in the house cuz sewer gas may be coming up through them too.
Normally toilets have a 3 inch inside diameter drain pipe.
The places listed under "Janitorial Equipment & Supplies" will sell anything and everything they have in stock to the general public. For some reason, people think that these places are strictly wholesale because they normally only sell to commercial establishments and cleaning contractors. The truth is, the only reason they mostly only sell to commercial establishments and contractors is because 99.9 percent of people buy their cleaning supplies in grocery and hardware stores. The Janitorial Supply stores will also sell to you because they don't sell to those other stores, so they don't have retailers to bark at them for stealing their business.
And, in fact, it's really kinda stupid to buy your cleaning supplies from a grocery store or home center. MOST of the difficulty encountered in cleaning is to know what to use on what and how to use it. If you go to a Janitorial Supply company, you get all the knowledge and experience of someone who's spent a career in the cleaning business tossed in for free. If you buy your cleaning supplies from a grocery store, if you have a problem with the product or the results you're getting, the only person you have to turn to for help is the 17 year old stocking the shelves. It's foolish not to buy from the more knowledgeable person to get the benefit of their knowledge and experience.
Also, when you're phoning around to the Fire & Flood Restoration Service companies, ask to talk to the manager or owner, and if he tells you they buy their cleaning chemicals from XYZ company, also ask them who's really knowledgeable about cleaning up sewer back ups over there. If you get 3 or 4 Restoration companies all getting their stuff from the same place and recommending you seek out the same guy, that's where you should be buying your stuff, and that's who you should be talking to. Most likely you'll be referred to several Janitorial Supply companies, all of whom have knowledgeable people on staff. The cleaning industry is like any other industry, and there are some people that are more knowledgable than others. There are Janitorial Supply companies that eek out a living selling light bulbs and toilet paper to bingo halls. In those cases, neither the Janitorial Supply company nor their customers know squat about how to clean anything, and that's not the kind of support you need to surround yourself with. You need to talk to the companies that actually clean, and find out who they consider to be knowledgeable about their business.
Just for your own curiosity, here's a web site that caters to the cleaning industry (and has particular emphasis on carpet cleaning) for some reason:
The articles you read in there will be written by knowledgeable people and the products advertised on that site will be popular in the industry. Maybe go to the top right corner and type in "sewer" where it says "Archive Search" and see if they have any articles in their archives about cleaning up after a sewer back up. Just use the search feature on your browser to find the word "sewer" in each article to see if it deals with a sewer back up. If not, the articles you find with Google should be knowledgeable too.
Me thinks the real problem here is that you're facing what in your mind are huge problems that you have no idea how to solve, and so you feel overwhelmed and in despair. You need to understand that this is simply because you're at the bottom of quite a few learning curves. But, we can cure that.
Last edited by Nestor_Kelebay; 08-13-2008 at 01:08 PM.
Join Date: Aug 2008
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sewer back-up and residual issues
Good news and not soooo good news, at least for today. I took your 7-11 Super Gulp advice, except at first I thought "Super Gulp" was a technical term until I look it up and saw the giant coffee cup. Then, of course, you referenced the 7-11 idea in a later post. Nevertheless, the idea of covering the opening with 'something' helped tremendously! However, the not so good news is the cleaning part. I still have residual gook that must be cleaned. Tomorrow my goal is to contact the cleaning companies. Tonight, I will spend time reading articles.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am to you (even though your replies are quite lengthy, I appreciate the background information and commentary, thanks again) and all who have replied to this post. You are sooo right. I am at the beginning of my learning curve. Thanks for putting that into perspective too.
Again, my next strategy is to talk to someone who does this type of clean up for a living....I believe you referred to them as fire and water restoration people...or something like that. I will check the post again. I am now off to explore the website you recommended.
Thanks again guys...I will keep you posted. (I only ask that you not leave me while I climb the learning curve...)
J Hill
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text: As part of the expansion of the Memorial Union Building, our firm was commissioned to undertake the interior redesign of Louis' Pub. The University of Saskatchewan Students' Union requested a new look for Louis' - one that would complement a new, more modern menu, and that would be unique among its competitors. The result was a retro-modern industrial aesthetic comprised of durable, common materials that have been treated in unique ways. Corrugated metal, ground mill steel, stained concrete, varnished MDF, and translucent glazing combine with varied lighting effects to create a warm, inviting restaurant atmosphere during the day, and an exciting, visually stimulating nightclub after hours.


text:
At times, I really wonder whether there is an alternative version of me in some other parallel universe or maybe a some other simulation in which I would have done things differently. Better things.. in which I had never hurt the people I love, neither intentionally nor accidentally. No doubt, this thought might be due to one of my recent obsession with futuristic TV series. We all dream about the future. We all have a haphazard view of how the future (Our Future) is gonna be. Some of us sprint, a few others linger behind while racing towards the future. Yet a few, neither sprint nor stay behind, but let the time take its course. I would place my bet on the former for thinking ahead of time and letting their inner self, take a toll towards its future. But, sometimes however hard we try, things don't happen the way we want it to. Mysterious things happen and by the time we begin to unravel its intricacies, time flies by. No use in crying over spilt milk, as they rightly said.
One among the other factors which prompted me to write this blog post other than my obsession with futuristic TV series is my own inner self – The confused soul. Of times late, I have been coming across articles giving a glimpse of the futuristic reality rather than existential reality. Self-driving Car, Self-balancing motor vehicle, VR Headsets, surreal laptops without a solid keyboard to type onto and a solid monitor to look at things (and of course, good old Donald becoming the President.) Whoa! It all seems like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Artificial Intelligence is in the making or it's already watching over us, maybe.
The future I am yet to live in is gonna be terrific and overwhelming that if I don't pull up my socks, I will be left behind. Or maybe all these thoughts are from my highly intricate consciousness and it's better left if I ignore it. Maybe, just maybe….I should let the time take its course and let it decide who I am gonna be. That's one way of being at peace. But, putting my faith in 'Time' reminds me of a code chunk, a simple if-else condition.
if {
If things happen favorable to me, Wow! Else, if it goes the other way around, WTF!
So, rather than putting my fate on a simple condition with only 2 possible outcomes (It can be a nested if-else… But, let's not go too technical…Shall we?), I would rather be a while loop who will keep trying every possible outcome until I achieve the desired result. But, the problem with this is that I might end up being stuck in an infinite loop in which no outcome is satiable. In this case, me thinking no Success as a Success, no Victory as a Victory! I will take my chances, though.
So, are you a wanderlust who loves to unravel yourself in the futuristic reality or yet another soul in this existential reality?


text:
It's sometimes very difficult to get things in perspective.
There I was, about to bemoan the Lions defeat in the 1st Test and another reverse this week at Touch Rugby (this time 8-3 to the 'Tag Nuts' - although to be fair the writing was on the wall early doors when we turned up with only 5 players) when I came across the story of Northern Ireland's Graeme Ryans who collapsed and died last weekend as he played touch rugby with fellow members of Bangor Rugby Club.
It's believed that the 31-year-old (thirty-one for heaven's sake), who was married with two young children, suffered a heart attack.
According to a spokesman at Bangor Rugby Club, Mr Ryans was a well-liked member of the club, a dedicated family man and was "as fit as he'd been in a long while".
I don't know about you, but when I hear a story like this it does tend to put my own petty little problems firmly into context. Seriously, I have nothing to moan about.
My thoughts are with his family and friends.