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The rapidly expanding generation of Internet-based services — such as email, blogging, social networking, search, and e-commerce — have substantially redefined the behavior and trends of web users when it comes to creating, communicating, accessing content, sharing information, and purchasing products. IT professionals are witnessing a proliferation in the scale of the data generated and consumed because of the growth in the number of these systems; this ever increasing need for scalability and new application requirements has created new challenges for traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS).
Enter the low-cost, high-performance NoSQL database software. The main features of NoSQL database software include:
- The ability to horizontally scale data.
- Support for weaker consistency models (one of the Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability (ACID) properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably ).
- The ability to use flexible schemas and data models.
- Support for simple low-level query interfaces.
This article explores the recent advancements in database systems for supporting web-scale data management. It presents an overview of the capabilities and features of main representatives for different alternatives of NoSQL systems — HBase, MongoDB, and SimpleDB — and the suitability of each to support different types of web applications.
Cloud database design basics
So how has cloud computing changed the way people interact with data?
Easy data transactions for all
Recent advances in web technology has made it easy for any user to provide and consume content of any form. For example:
- Building a personal web page (such as Google Sites).
- Starting a blog (with WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal).
- Interacting in online communities (with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).
These avenues have become commodities, tools which have made it easy for many more people to create, consume, and transfer (also known as transactions) more data in more diverse forms (such as blog posts, tweets, social network interactions, video, audio, and photos ... data that is both structured and unstructured).
Apps become distributed, scalable services
The apparent next goal of the system and tool manufacturers is to facilitate the job of implementing every application as a distributed, scalable, and widely-accessible service on the web (for examples, look at such services from Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Zoho, and LinkedIn).
The applications that meet this criteria are both data-intensive and very interactive. For example, at the time this article was written, Facebook announced it has 800 million monthly active users (it may be more like a billion now). Each user has an average friendship relation count of 130. Moreover, there are about 900 million objects that registered users interact with such as pages, groups, events, and community pages.
Other smaller scale social networks such as LinkedIn, which is mainly used for professionals, has recently reached 200 million registered users. Twitter claims to have more than 100 million active monthly users. It is a given fact that the ultimate goal is to make it easy for anyone who wants to achieve this high level of scalability and availability; how to do that with minimum efforts and resources is the challenge.
Cloud models facilitate services deployment
Cloud computing technology is a relatively new model for hosting software applications (although cloud is so integrated that by now it is possibly indistinguishable from the rest of the entire data-transaction system of the Internet. The cloud model simplifies the time-consuming processes of hardware provisioning, hardware purchasing, and software deployment, therefore it revolutionizes the way computational resources and services are commercialized and delivered to customers. In particular, it shifts the location of this infrastructure to the network in order to reduce the costs associated with the management of hardware and software resources.
This means that the cloud represents the long-held dream of envisioning computing as a utility, a dream in which the economy of scale principles help to effectively drive down the cost of the computing infrastructure.
Cloud computing promises a number of advantages for the deployment of software applications such as pay-per-use cost model, short time to market, and the perception of (virtually) unlimited resources and infinite scalability.
New distro model means more new data and datatypes
In practice, the advantages of the cloud computing model opens up new avenues for deploying novel applications that were not economically feasible in a traditional enterprise infrastructure setting. Therefore, the cloud has become an increasingly popular platform for hosting software applications in a variety of domains such as e-retail, finance, news, and social networking. The proliferation in the number of applications also delivers a tremendous increase in the scale of the data generated and consumed by these applications. This is why a cloud-hosted database system powering these applications forms a critical component in the software stack of these applications.
Cloud models lead to cloud database model
To meet the challenges posed by hosting databases on cloud computing environments there are a plethora of systems and approaches. In practice, there are three main technologies that are commonly used for deploying the database tier of software applications in cloud platforms:
- Virtualized database servers
- Database as a service platforms
- NoSQL storage systems
The role of virtualization
Virtualization is a key component of cloud computing technology; it allows you to abstract away the details of physical hardware and provides virtualized resources for high-level applications.
A virtualized server is commonly called a virtual machine (VM). VMs allow the isolation of both applications from the underlying hardware and other VMs. Ideally each VM is both unaware and unaffected by other VMs that could be operating on the same physical machine.
In principle, resource virtualization technologies add a flexible and programmable layer of software between applications and the resources used by these applications. The concept that defines a virtualized database server makes use of these advantages, especially where an existing database tier of a software application that has been designed to be used in a conventional data center can be directly ported to virtual machines in the public cloud.
Such a migration process usually requires minimal changes in the architecture or the code of the deployed application. In the virtualized database approach, database servers, like any other software components, are migrated to run in virtual machines. While the provisioning of a VM for each database replica imposes a performance overhead, this overhead is estimated to be of less than 10 percent. In practice, one of the major advantages of the virtualized database server approach is that the application can have full control in dynamically allocating and configuring the physical resources of the database tier (database servers) as needed.
Therefore, software applications can fully utilize the elasticity feature of the cloud environment to achieve their defined and customized scalability or cost reduction goals; however, achieving these goals requires the existence of an admission control component that is responsible for monitoring the system state and taking the corresponding actions (for example, allocating more/less computing resources) according to the defined application requirements and strategies. One of the main responsibilities of this admission control component is to decide when to trigger an increase or decrease in the number of the virtualized database servers which are allocated to the software application.
The role of multi-tenancy in data centers
Data centers are often underutilized due to over-provisioning, as well as the time-varying resource demands of typical enterprise applications. Multi-tenancy is an optimization mechanism for hosted services in which multiple customers are consolidated onto the same operational system (a single instance of the software runs on a server, serving multiple clients) and thus the economy of scale principles help to effectively drive down the cost of computing infrastructure.
In particular, multi-tenancy allows pooling of resources which improves utilization by eliminating the need to provision each tenant for their maximum load. This makes multi-tenancy an attractive mechanism for both:
- Cloud providers (who are able to serve more customers with a smaller set of machines) and
- Customers of cloud services (who do not need to pay the price of renting the full capacity of a server).
Database as a service is a concept in which a third-party service provider hosts a relational database as a service. Such services alleviate the need for users to purchase expensive hardware and software, deal with software upgrades, and hire professionals for administrative and maintenance tasks.
In practice, the migration of the database tier of any software application to a relational database service is expected to require minimal effort if the underlying RDBMS of the existing software application is compatible with the offered service. However, some limitations or restrictions might be introduced by the service provider for different reasons (for example, the maximum size of the hosted database, the maximum number of possible concurrent connections). Moreover, software applications do not have sufficient flexibility in being able to control the allocated resources of their applications (like dynamically allocating more resources for dealing with increasing workload or dynamically reducing the allocated resources in order to reduce the operational cost). The whole resource management and allocation process is controlled at the provider side which requires an accurate planning for the allocated computing resources for the database tier and limits the ability of the consumer applications to maximize their benefits by leveraging the elasticity and scalability features of the cloud environment.
Why relational databases may not be optimal
In general, relational database management systems have been considered as a "one-size-fits-all solution for data persistence and retrieval" for decades. They have matured after extensive research and development efforts and very successfully created a large market and solutions in different business domains.
The ever-increasing need for scalability and new application requirements have created new challenges for traditional RDBMS, including some dissatisfaction with this one-size-fits-all approach in some web-scale applications. The answer to this has been a new generation of low-cost, high-performance database software designed to challenge dominance of relational database management systems. A big reason for the NoSQL movement is that different implementations of web, enterprise, and cloud computing applications have different requirements of their databases — not every application requires rigid data consistency, for example.
Another example: For high-volume websites like eBay, Amazon, Twitter, or Facebook, scalability and high availability are essential requirements that cannot be compromised. For these applications, even the slightest outage can have significant financial consequences and impacts customer trust.
Next, let's explore the basic design principle of a NoSQL database.
Design principles of NoSQL databases
In practice, the CAP theorem — consisting of the three properties of Consistency, Availability, and tolerance to Partitions — has shown that a distributed database system can only choose to fulfill at most two out of the three properties. Most of these systems decide to compromise the strict consistency requirement (for more on the evolution of the CAP theorem, see sidebar). In particular, they apply a relaxed consistency policy called eventual consistency which guarantees that if no new updates are made to a replicated object, eventually all accesses will return the last updated value. If no failures occur, the maximum size of the inconsistency window can be determined based on factors such as communication delays, the load on the system, and the number of replicas involved in the replication scheme.
These new NoSQL systems have a number of design features in common:
- The ability to horizontally scale out throughput over many servers.
- A simple call level interface or protocol (in contrast to a SQL binding).
- Support for weaker consistency models than the ACID transactions in most traditional RDBMS.
- Efficient use of distributed indexes and RAM for data storage.
- The ability to dynamically define new attributes or data schema.
These design features of these systems are mainly targeting to achieve the following system goals:
- Availability: The system should be accessible even in the situation of having a network failure or an entire data center going offline.
- Scalability: The system should be able to support very large databases with very high request rates at very low latency.
- Elasticity: The system should be able to satisfy changing application requirements in both directions (scaling up or scaling down). Moreover, the system must be able to gracefully respond to these changing requirements and quickly recover its steady state.
- Load balancing: The system should be able to automatically move load between servers so that most of the hardware resources are effectively utilized and to avoid any resource overloading situations.
- Fault tolerance: The system should be able to deal with the reality that even the rarest hardware problems at some point will go from being freak events to eventualities. While hardware failure is still a serious concern, this concern needs to be addressed at the architectural level of the database rather than requiring developers, administrators, and operations staff to build their own redundant solutions.
In fact, Google's BigTable and Amazon's Dynamo have provided a proof of concept that inspired and triggered the development all of the NoSQL systems:
- BigTable has demonstrated that persistent record storage could be scaled to thousands of nodes.
- Dynamo has pioneered the idea of eventual consistency as a way to achieve higher availability and scalability.
The open source community has responded to that with many systems such as HBase, Cassandra, Voldemort, Riak, Redis, Hypertable, MongoDB, CouchDB, Neo4j, and countless other projects. These projects mainly differ in their decisions regarding alternative design choices such as:
- Data model: Key/value, row store, graph-oriented, or document-oriented.
- Access-path optimization: Read-intensive versus write-intensive or single-key versus multi-key.
- Data partitioning: Row-oriented, column-oriented, multi-column oriented.
- Concurrency management: Strong consistency, eventual consistency, weak consistency.
- CAP theorem: CP, CA, or AP.
Next is an overview of the capabilities and features for the main representatives for different alternatives of NoSQL systems: SimpleDB, HBase, and MongoDB.
SimpleDB is a commercial Amazon Web Service (AWS) which is designed for providing structured data storage in the cloud and backed by clusters of Amazon-managed database servers. It is a highly available and flexible non-relational data store that offloads the work of database administration. In practice, SimpleDB represents a cloud-hosted storage service that provides different application interfaces (like REST, APIs) so it can be conveniently used and accessed by any software application which is hosted on IBM® SmartCloud® Enterprise.
Storing data in SimpleDB does not require any pre-defined schema information. Developers simply store and query data items via web services requests and SimpleDB does the rest. There is no rule that forces every data item (data record) to have the same fields; however, the lack of schema means also that there are no data types since all data values are treated as variable length character data.
The drawbacks of a schema-less data storage also include the lack of automatic integrity checking in the database (no foreign keys) and an increased burden on the application to handle formatting and type conversions.
SimpleDB has a pricing structure that includes charges for data storage, data transfer, and processor usage; there are no base fees nor minimums. Similar to most AWS services, SimpleDB provides a simple API interface that follows the rules and the principles for both of REST and SOAP protocols where the user sends a message with a request to carry out a specific operation. The SimpleDB server completes the operations unless there is an error and responds with a success code and response data. The response data is an HTTP response packet in XML format which has headers, storage metadata, and some payload.
The top level abstract element of data storage in SimpleDB is the domain. A domain is roughly analogous to a database table where you can create and delete the domains as needed. There are no design or configuration options to create a domain. The only parameter you can set is the domain name.
All the data stored in a SimpleDB domain takes the form of key-value attribute pairs. Each attribute pair is associated with an item which plays the role of a table row. The attribute name is similar to a database column name, but different items (rows) can contain different attribute names which give you the freedom to store different attributes in some items without changing the layout of other items that do not have the same attributes. This flexibility allows you to painlessly add new data fields in the common situation of schema changing or schema evolution.
In addition, it is possible for each attribute to have not just one value (multi-valued attributes) but an array of values. In this case, all you do is add another attribute to an item and use the same attribute name but with a different value. Each value is automatically indexed as you add it, but there are no explicit indexes to maintain so you have no index maintenance work of any kind to do. On the other side, you do not have any direct control over the created indices.
The following snippet of Java™ code is an example of creating SimpleDB domain:
SimpleDB simpleDB = new SimpleDB(accessKeyID, secretAccessKey); try { simpleDB.createDomain("employee"); System.out.println("create domain succeeded"); } catch (SDBException e) { System.err.printf("create domain failed"); }
In this example, the variables
accessKeyID and
secretAccessKey represent the AWS credentials of the connecting user and
employee represents the created domain name. Other domain operation supported by SimpleDB include:
- The
DeleteDomainoperation which permanently deletes all the data associated with the existing named domain.
ListDomainswhich returns a listing of all the domains associated with the user account.
- The
DomainMetadataoperation which returns detailed information about one specific domain such as:
ItemCountthat returns the count of all items in the domain,
AttributeNameCountthat returns the count of all unique attribute names in the domain, and
AttributeValueCountthat returns the count of all name/value pairs in the domain.
The following code snippet shows an example of storing data with the
PutAttribute operation:
SimpleDB simpleDB = new SimpleDB(accessKeyID, secretAccessKey); ItemAttribute[] employeeData = new empAttribute[] { new ItemAttribute("empID", "JohnS"), new ItemAttribute("first_name", "John"), new ItemAttribute("last_name", "Smith"), new ItemAttribute("city", "Sydney"), }; try { Domain domain = simpleDB.getDomain("employee"); Item newItem = domain.getItem("E12345"); newItem.putAttributes(Arrays.asList(employeeData)); System.out.println("put attributes succeeded"); } catch (SDBException e) { System.err.printf("put attributes failed"); }
Getting back the data you previously stored can be achieved using the following snippet of Java code:
SimpleDB simpleDB = new SimpleDB(accessKeyID, secretAccessKey); try { Domain domain = simpleDB.getDomain("users"); Item item = domain.getItem("E12345"); String fname = user.get("first_name "); String lname = user.get("last_name "); String city = user.get("city"); System.out.printf("%s %s %s", fname, lname, city); } catch (SDBException e) { System.err.printf("get attributes failed"); }
Other data manipulation operations which are supported by SimpleDB include:
- The
BatchPutAttributesoperation which enables storing the data for multiple items in a single call.
- The
DeleteAttributesoperation which removes the data for the items that has previously been stored in SimpleDB.
The SimpleDB Select API uses a query language that is similar to the SQL Select statement. This query language makes SimpleDB Select operations very familiar, with a gentle learning curve for its user. Watch out for the issue that the language supports issuing queries only over the scope of a single domain (with no joins, multiple domains, or sub-select queries). For example, this SimpleDB select statement retrieves the top-rated movies in the underlying domain:
SELECT * FROM movies WHERE rating > '04' ORDER BY rating LIMIT 10
In this example,
movies represents the domain name and
rating is a filtering attribute for the items of the domain. Since there is an index in SimpleDB for each attribute, an index will be available for optimizing the evaluation each query predicate. SimpleDB attempts to automatically choose the best index for each query as part of the query execution plan.
SimpleDB is implemented with complex replication and failover mechanisms behind the scenes, so when you use SimpleDB, you get a high availability guarantee with your data replicated to different locations automatically. A user does not need to do any extra effort or become an expert on high availability or the details of replication techniques to achieve the high availability goal.
SimpleDB supports two options for each user read request — eventual consistency or strong consistency. In general, using the option of a consistent read eliminates the consistency window for the request. The results of a consistent read are guaranteed to return the most up-to-date values. In most cases, a consistent read is no slower than an eventually consistent read, but it is possible for consistent read requests to show higher latency and lower bandwidth on some occasions (for example, with heavy workloads). SimpleDB does not offer any guarantees about the eventual consistency window but it is frequently less than one second.
There are quite a few limitations a user needs to consider while using the SimpleDB service:
- The maximum storage size per domain is 10GB.
- The maximum attribute values per domain is 1 billion.
- The maximum attribute values per item is 256.
- The maximum length of item name, attribute name, or value is 1024 bytes.
- For queries:
- The maximum query execution time is 5 seconds.
- The max query results are 2500.
- The maximum query response size is 1MB.
Apache HBase, a Hadoop database, is a distributed storage system for managing structured data that is designed to scale to a very large size across horizontally scalable commodity machines. It is an Apache project which implements a clone of the BigTable storage architecture faithfully (other clones for the ideas of BigTable include the Apache Cassandra project and Hypertable project). In practice, HBase clusters can be installed and run on any IaaS cloud service providers such as IBM SmartCloud Enterprise; IBM InfoSphere® BigInsights™ builds atop Hadoop to provide the necessary enterprise-oriented capabilities.
Released in 2007, HBase is a sparse, distributed, persistent multidimensional sorted map. The map is indexed by a row key, column key, and a timestamp. Each value in the map is an uninterpreted array of bytes, so clients usually need to serialize various forms of structured and semi-structured data into these strings. A concrete example that reflects some of the main design decisions of HBase is found in a scenario in which you want to store a copy of a large collection of web pages into a single table.
Figure 1 illustrates an example of this table in which URLs are used as row keys and various aspects of web pages as column names. The contents of the web pages are stored in a single column which stores multiple versions of the page under the timestamps when they were fetched.
Figure 1. Sample record in HBase table
The row keys in a table are arbitrary strings where every read or write of data under a single row key is atomic. HBase maintains the data in lexicographic order by row key where the row range for a table is dynamically partitioned. Having the row keys always sorted can give you something like the primary key index found in relational databases.
While the original BigTable implementation only considers a single index, HBase adds support for secondary indices. Each row range is in each table called a tablet that represents the unit of distribution and load balancing. Reads of short row ranges are efficient and typically require communication with only a small number of machines.
HBase can have an unbounded number of columns that are grouped into sets called column families. These column families represent the basic unit of access control. The data is stored by column and it doesn't need to store values when they are null, so HBase is suitable for sparse data sets. Every column value (cell) either is timestamped implicitly by the system or can be set explicitly by the user. This means that each cell in a BigTable can contain multiple versions of the same data which are indexed by their timestamps. The user can flexibly specify how many versions of a value should be kept. These versions are stored in decreasing timestamp order so that the most recent versions can be always read first. Putting this together, you'll find you can express the access to data as follows:
(Table, RowKey, Family, Column, Timestamp) --> Value
The fact that reads of short row ranges require low communication can affect the development of queries, so that they are suitable to the available network resources. On the physical level, HBase uses the Hadoop distributed file system in place of the Google file system. It puts updates into memory and periodically writes them out to files on the disk.
The basic unit of scalability and load balancing in HBase is called a region. Regions are essentially contiguous ranges of rows stored together. They are dynamically split by the system when they become too large; alternatively they may also be merged to reduce their number and required storage files.
Initially there is only one region for a table; as you start adding data to it, the system is monitoring it to ensure that you do not exceed a configured maximum size. If you exceed the limit, the region is split into two at the middle key of the region creating two roughly equal halves. Each region is served by exactly one region server and each of these servers can serve many regions at any time.
Splitting and serving regions can be thought of as auto-sharding, a technique offered by other systems. The region servers can be added or removed while the system is up and running. The master is responsible for assigning regions to region servers and uses Apache ZooKeeper, a reliable, highly available, persistent, and distributed coordination service, to facilitate that task. In addition, it handles schema changes such as table and column family creations.
In HBase, all operations that mutate data are guaranteed to be atomic on a per-row basis. It uses optimistic concurrency control which aborts any operations if there is a conflict with other updates. This affects all other concurrent readers and writers of that same row as they either read a consistent last mutation or may have to wait before being able to apply their change. For data storage and access, HBase provides a Java API, a Thrift API, REST API, and JDBC/ODBC connection.
The following code snippet shows an example of storing data in HBase:
Configuration conf = HBaseConfiguration.create(); HTable table = new HTable(conf, "employee"); Put put = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("E12345")); put.add(Bytes.toBytes("colfam1"), Bytes.toBytes("first_name"), Bytes.toBytes("John")); put.add(Bytes.toBytes("colfam1"), Bytes.toBytes("last_name"), Bytes.toBytes("Smith")); put.add(Bytes.toBytes("colfam1"), Bytes.toBytes("city"), Bytes.toBytes("Sydney")); table.put(put);
This example creates a row in the
employee table, adds a column family with three columns (
last_name, and
city), stores the data values in the created columns, and adds the row into the HBase table. The following code snippet shows an example of retrieving data from HBase:
Configuration conf = HBaseConfiguration.create(); HTable table = new HTable(conf, " employee"); Get get = new Get(Bytes.toBytes("E12345")); get.addColumn(Bytes.toBytes("colfam1"), Bytes.toBytes("first_name ")); Result result = table.get(get); byte[] val = result.getValue(Bytes.toBytes("colfam1"), Bytes.toBytes("first_name ")); System.out.println("Employee's first name is: " + Bytes.toString(val));
In addition, HBase provide a rich set of API functions such as the
Delete function that can remove the attribute value of any key, the
DeleteColumn function which deletes an entire column, and the
DeleteFamily function which deletes an entire column family, including all contained columns. In addition there are a set of batch
Get, and
Delete functions and the resulting scanning operations.
MongoDB is a distributed, schema-free, document-oriented database which was created at 10gen. It stores binary JSON documents (BSON) that are binary-encoded JSON like objects. BSON supports nested object structures with embedded objects and arrays. Similar to HBase, MongoDB and CouchDB clusters can be installed and run on any IaaS provider platform such as IBM SmartCloud Enterprise.
At the heart of MongoDB is the concept of a document which is represented as an ordered set of keys with associated values; a collection is a group of documents. If a document is the MongoDB analog of a row in a relational database, then a collection can be thought of as the analog to a table.
Collections are schema-free. This means that the documents within a single collection can have any number of different "shapes." For example, both of the following documents could be stored in a single collection:
{"empID" : "E12345", "fname" : "John", "lname" : "Smit", "city" : "Sydney", "age": 32} {"postID" : "P1", "postText" : "This is my blog post"}
Note that the previous documents not only have different structures and types for their values, they also have entirely different keys.
MongoDB groups collections into databases. A single instance of MongoDB can host several databases, each of which can be thought of as virtually independent. The
insert function adds a document to a collection. The following code snippet shows an example of inserting a post document into a blog collection:
post = {"title" : "MongoDB Example", "content" : "Insertion Example ", "author" : :"John Smith"} db.blog.insert(post)
After saving the blog post to the database, you can retrieve it by calling the
find method on the collection:
db.blog.find("title" : "MongoDB Example").
find method returns all of the documents in a collection satisfying the filtering conditions. If you just want to see one document from a collection, you can use
findOne method:
If you want to modify the post, you can use the
update method, which takes (at least) two parameters:
- The criteria to find which document to update.
- The new document.
The following code snippet shows an example of updating the content of a blog post:
post = {"content" : "Update Example"} blog.update({{title : " MongoDB Example "}, post }
Note that MongoDB provides only eventual consistency guarantees, so a process could read an old version of a document even if another process has already performed an update operation on it. In addition, it provides no transaction management so that if a process reads a document and writes a modified version back to the database, it may happen that another process writes a new version of the same document between the read and write operation of the first process.
remove method deletes documents permanently from the
database. If it is called with no parameters, then it removes all documents from a
collection. If parameters are specified, then it removes only the documents specifying
criteria for removal. The following code snippet shows an example of removing the sample blog post:
db.blog.remove({title : " MongoDB Example "}).
You can create indices using the
ensureIndex method. The following code snippet shows an example of indexing the blog posts using their title information:
db.people.ensureIndex({"title " : 1}).
MongoDB also supports indexing the documents on multiple files. The API interface is rich and supports different batch operations and aggregation functions. MongoDB is Implemented in C++; it provides drivers for a number of programming languages including C, C#, C++, Erlang. Haskell, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, and Scala. It provides a JavaScript command-line interface.
The project of Apache CouchDB is another example of document-oriented databases which is similar to MongoDB in its data model and data-management mechanism. It is written in Erlang, but is currently not a distributed database, though it can be used for applications which are written in JavaScript. The documents are stored and accessed as JSON objects. CouchDB has no support for document types or equivalent to tables, so developers have to build the document type distinction by themselves which they can do by putting a
type attribute in each document.
An interesting feature in CouchDB is that it supports defining a validation functions so that if the document is updated or created, the validation functions are triggered to approve or validate the operations. CouchDB can be also tuned to provide either strong consistency or eventual consistency guarantees.
DB2 support for NoSQL
In a quest for efficient data management in a cloud environment, using the most appropriate data model for each data management task is the end goal, so I thought it might be worth a mention at this point that even traditional relational databases are supporting various NoSQL versions to reach that goal (I'll talk more about this in the conclusion).
For example, IBM DB2 supports a NoSQL graph store through an API that supports multiple calls and a NoSQL software solution stack. The graph store stores data in only three columns (called a triple) that represents data as a noun, a verb, and a noun. A simple query can pull any data triples together that have matching nouns. DB2 provides performance-enhancing features for the graph store such as the ability to map graph triples to relational tables (with unlimited columns), data compression, parallel execution, and load balancing.
Through DB2 pureXML, DB2 also offers a type of NoSQL-like database, the XML data store, which makes it easier to manage web-based data in its native hierarchical format. DB2 users can use query languages such XPath and XQuery to process XML documents. This data model comes in handy in use cases where there is ongoing change in the information being managed.
In conclusion
For more than a quarter of a century, relational database management systems (RDBMS) have been the dominant model for database management. They provide an extremely attractive interface for managing and accessing data and have proven to be wildly successful in many financial, business, and Internet applications. Along with the trend of web-scale data management, they have started to suffer from some limitations.
As an alternative model for database management, NoSQL systems' main advantages are:
- Elastic scaling: For years, database administrators have relied on the scale up approach rather than the scale out approach; with the current increase in the transaction rates and high availability requirements, the economic advantages of scaling out (especially on commodity hardware) become very attractive. NoSQL systems are designed with the ability to expand transparently in order to take advantage of the addition of any new nodes.
- Less administration: NoSQL databases are generally designed to support features like automatic repair and a simpler data model; this should lead to lower administration and tuning requirements.
- Better economics: NoSQL databases typically use clusters of inexpensive commodity servers to manage the exploding data and transaction volumes.
- Flexible data models: NoSQL databases have more relaxed (if any) data model restrictions, so application and database schema alterations can be changed more softly.
There are still many obstacles NoSQL databases need to overcome before theses systems can appeal to mainstream enterprises:
- Programming models: NoSQL databases offer few facilities for ad-hoc query and analysis. Even a simple query requires significant programming expertise. Missing the support of declaratively expressing the important
joinoperation has been always considered one of the main limitations of these systems.
- Transaction support: Transaction management is one of the powerful features of RDBMS. The current limited-to-non-existent support of the transaction notion on NoSQL database systems is considered an obstacle to them being accepted to implement mission-critical systems.
- Maturity: RDBMS systems are well-known for their high stability and rich functionalities. In comparison, most NoSQL alternatives are in pre-production versions with many key features either not stable enough or yet to be implemented. This means that enterprises are still approaching this new wave of data management with extreme caution.
- Support: Enterprises look for the assurance that if the system fails, they will be able to get timely and competent support. RDBMS vendors go to great lengths to provide that high level of support. In contrast, many NoSQL systems are open source projects and the support levels are not there yet.
- Expertise: Almost every NoSQL developer is in learning mode; granted, this is a situation that will change over time. But currently, it is far easier to find experienced RDBMS programmers or administrators than a NoSQL expert.
The debate between the NoSQL and RDBMS factions will probably never generate a definitive answer. Most likely, the best possible answer will be that different data management solutions will coexist in a single application. For example, I can imagine an application which uses different data stores for different purposes:
- An SQL RDBMS for low-volume, high-value data such as user profiles and billing information.
- A key/value store for high-volume, low-value data such as hit counts and logs.
- A file storage service for user-uploaded assets such as photos, sound files, and big binary files.
- A document database for storing the application documents such as bills.
There are lots of resources available, in a simple web search, for resources pertaining to the topics in this article. Here are a select few to get you started:
- Using NoSQL and analyzing big data
- Discover MongoDB
- "An introduction to the Hadoop Distributed File System"
- More on the Hadoop Distributed File System
- Understanding HBase
- List of NoSQL databases
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Please copy any of following code and place on your site or submit on other sites on which you want to share this free movie's information.
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This movie Bedazzled released on 10 Dec, 1967 and directed by Stanley Donen. Story written by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Movie Fry brings you Bedazzled 1967 movie for free to watch or download for free. Laugh and get some happy moments with Bedazzled free movie on MovieFry. Bedazzled Movie introduce you to the amazing world where unknown creatures will be waiting for you to show their amazing powers in Bedazzled picture movie and will enjoy this journey. As in all romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations, and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films Bedazzled. Watch Bedazzled 1967 Movie online for free or download Bedazzled Movie for free at MovieFry.
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Lolita (1998)
The Switch (2010)
Teenape Goes to Camp (2008)
The Perez Family (1995)
Trick (1999)
Love, Rosie (2014)

subset: commoncrawl


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Top Definition
Cheaply made, thin slippers that have a very thin material covering the foot, that are worn in mostly high urban areas. Are also seen with elevated rubber soles.
"I was rocking fresh in my white-T, clean in my white-T with the fresh air forces and my girl came through with the blue bluphtoonies and a skirt, we was both on point, WHAT!?!?!?!!"
by G'd Up Swagger October 28, 2005
Trending Now
Can you define these popular missing words?


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Did you miss Mardi Gras? If you drive through Soulard today, you won't even notice it came and went thanks to this young lady, who was out vacuuming the streets Saturday. LINK HERE
Whilst we were out partying our faces off, the Cardinals went ahead and started Spring Training without us.
Coach Mike Matheny held his first workout. Adam Wainwright pitched off the mound. And no one even mentioned that Albert Pujols fellow, because he's been painted over. LINK HERE
But what else is new in Jupiter for 2012? Let's peek…
Oh, what's that? A championship pennant? I think that gives the college dorm room hall a much better feel. Really ties the complex together.
Something tells me the mixed reaction that Yadier Molina got debuting his neck ink a couple years back isn't going to be there with this puppy. (LINK HERE) Can we not root for 12 in '12 solely for the chance that some sort of Michelangelo caliber dedication appears on his back? Maybe featuring his other brothers looking forlorn in some way?
Jamie, where have you gone? Perhaps our friends over at InsideSTL caught the Cardinals pitcher at a bad angle, but DAMNNNNN… dude looks skinny. Like, get yourself a bratzel skinny.


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Flatsale Entry!
Child's Title: Angel of Music
Name: Aevah
Extra Information Question:
What is She: Aevah is a musical muse with a strong will and determination to create songs for those she loves.
Wings: The wings will manifest themselves as more notes and will change from time to time, showing off different songs as she grows. As she gains more control over her powers, the wings themselves will be the very fabric of her magical capacity. As she learns more about herself and her powers, as long as she sings, wings will grow and be capable of levitation and flight, but only as long as she can sing or hum a song. They will glow whenever she discovers a new note or learns a completely new song.
The Character: I can see Aevah growing into a kind woman. Her guardian will have a lot of influence over her. But obviously RP will determine where she truly goes. Will she meet a mean character and possibly fall in love? Turning her naturally soft songs into a more harsh tone, darkening her very soul? I'm not sure, but it's all a possibility within RP. She will definitely be a more dependent person, being a muse, she isn't completely able to be by herself for long periods of time. She will like to be around Havain or other people/characters very often, always singing or humming different tunes to keep her mind busy and lighten the mood around her. Being a muse, she is often flighty and can be agitated quite easily. So although she'll love to brighten someone's day with music or enlighten someone with a song, if that someone is rude to her she will often go to hide on her own until they apologize or beg for her forgiveness. I can see one of her best friends becoming a bird who sings in the early hours of the morning. The two can sing together.
Although she is a songbird, she wouldn't be singing every minute of every day. Sometimes she will be found to be humming and every now and again she may sing a sentence to the other if she's so inspired to do so, but just as often she will be as normal as any other little girl her age. She will want to play with dolls, go outside and enjoy the scenery, just grow up with Havain and any friends she makes along the way.
Potential Powers: As described, I can see her wings growing with her as her knowledge and power grows. She will be able to float/levitate/fly about as long as she can hum or sing as she does so. She will also be able to help people who have a desire to learn an instrument or song by giving them the knowledge to do so. Obviously, this is after she's mastered the instrument or song herself first. She will have a natural affinity for musical instruments and will try and turn anything she can into one (whether that be tapping a pencil upon different surfaces to learn the noise it makes or figuring out what pots and pans create which tones or using anything she can get her hands on to create music). By affinity for instruments, I mean that she will be able to pick up an instrument and kind of be able to learn and master it much faster than a normal person. Though some instruments she will like more than others, and her own musical muse will be depleted if she's forced to learn an instrument she's not really liking. Although she can learn the instruments faster, this wouldn't, by any means, make her an instant master. She will have to overcome her struggles like anyone else learning something new, but she will be able to learn it much faster, especially if she's truly interested in the instrument she's learning. This goes for songs as well.
The Caretaker: My OC, Havain, will be her guardian until she's fully grown, then she will decide where to go from there.
Prompt Choice: C. This little one's wings are going to be a source of interest as they grow. Whether they stay the exact same unflyable fluff they are right now, or molt and grow into beautiful glistening wings of some kind, or completely change in shape and type, that's going to be an ordeal no matter how you spin it! So how do these wings affect this child? Show us the little one's growing pains with wings.
Prompt Reply: ...
Flatsale Entry!
Child's Title: Mixed Feelings
Extra Information Question: (each kid has an Extra Information Question before their prompts. Please fill out all information asked in this question here. The extra information questions are to be answered OOC. The prompt questions are to be answered ic.)
Prompt Choice: (A, B, C or whatever combination you did if you chose to answer more than one)
Prompt Reply: (Just insert your prompt response after this. Responses must be at least 3 paragraphs)
Flatsale Entry!
Child's Title : Dragon his Heels
Extra Information Question: (each kid has an Extra Information Question before their prompts. Please fill out all information asked in this question here. The extra information questions are to be answered OOC. The prompt questions are to be answered ic.)
Prompt Choice: (A, B, C or whatever combination you did if you chose to answer more than one)
Prompt Reply: (Just insert your prompt response after this. Responses must be at least 3 paragraphs)


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Dear anti-gun reform people....
If you don't like the new regulations, you're welcome to drive your houses somewhere else.
And if you want to pretend that you'll be safer, you're welcome to move to Chicago.
Quoting Anonymous:
Why aren't you big, bad and wonderful. I believe in this country and a correct interpretation of the constitution. Edumacate your ignorant self.
Learn how to quote someone. *facepalm*
FYI I live in America where we have freedom..so just because I enjoy shooting guns for sport and my husband hunts and we own them for protection doesn't make me a bad person. I live in a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood thank you very much.


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Rent Chemistry: The Central Science, Books a la Carte Edition 11th edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Brown. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Pearson.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our Chemistry tutors now.


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Pituitary Tumor Program
The Pituitary Tumor Program is a group of physicians dedicated to caring for patients with all types of pituitary disorders. We provide quality care for patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent pituitary tumors, and long-term patient follow-up related to their pituitary disorder. Our endocrinologists are work with colleagues in neurosurgery, neuroradiology, neuro-ophthalmology, neuropathology and radiation oncology to provide expert management of pituitary disease.
The Pituitary Tumor team provides coordinated outpatient evaluation and care, including:
- Dynamic hormonal testing
- A wide range of pituitary function tests
- Testing and diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome
- Pituitary-dedicated MRI imaging
- Neuro-ophthalmologic exams
- Proton therapy
New patients are routinely presented at the monthly pituitary conference so that an individualized treatment plan can be formulated and carried out by a multidisciplinary team of physicians.
MD Anderson Resources
Search the Patient Education Office database to access information on:
View the Glossary of Pituitary Terminology
Disease Information
MD Anderson Resources
- Clinical Cancer Genetics Program
- Endocrine Neoplasia & Hormonal Disorders
- Head & Neck Surgery
- Surgical Endocrinology


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quote: AMD must be really feeling the pressure from Intel. Good luck in keeping up the spirit of competition!
quote: Do you really think AMD just came up with this shit because of Conroe? You think someone spent a weekend at work after the Conroe launch and pulled K8L out of their ass on Monday morning?
quote: AMD's 'demonstration' this year is being prompted by Intel moving up its quad core release to Q406
quote: Actually I think AMD has always had the designs, but they have been keeping them away from the customers until Intel finally caught up with them. Now that Intel has they are going to pull the designs out like some sort of new invention that is supposed to revolutionize the industry. They will also start producting around the time that Vista will come to the market making K8L along with the latest ATI videocard and chipset the best solutions to buy for Vista.
quote: Earlier AMD roadmaps have revealed that quad-core production CPUs would not utilize a native quad-core design until late 2007 or 2008
quote: Intel has already demonstrated working quad core server and DT parts, glued together or not, it has bit because there were real...


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Following the humiliating loss to Duke on Saturday night, it's pretty obvious what the worst-case scenario would be for UNC basketball in the ACC tournament. But could the Tar Heels possibly do the unthinkable?
Could they be the ones to cut down the nets on Sunday?
In the following slides, we'll break down their chances and find out what this writer believes North Carolina's best-case scenario would be.
ACC tournament odds are courtesy of TeamRankings.com.


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One last salute
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 1, 2014 1:46 PM
Army Pfc. Andrew Sass
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Air Force veteran and Purple Heart recipient Brian Volk, a 12-year member of the Guardian Brotherhood, stands in remembrance outside the memorial service held Monday in honor of Army Pfc. Andrew Sass -- a Wayne County native who was killed last week during an Army training exercise.
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Members of the Guardian Brotherhood and Patriot Guard Riders stand in honor of Army Pfc. Andrew Sass outside Stoney Creek Free Will Baptist Church before the young man's memorial service.
It wasn't about gaining recognition for the organizations they represent. They didn't do it for the emotional embraces they found themselves receiving. For those who stood outside Stoney Creek Free Will Baptist Church Monday evening with a flag in...
Please log in to see full story.


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Mike Kaiser
|This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
|This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (September 2014)
|Mike Kaiser
|Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
for Woodridge
|In office
5 February 2000 – 17 February 2001
|Preceded by
|Bill D'Arcy
|Succeeded by
|Desley Scott
|Personal details
|Michael Hans Kaiser
20 April 1963
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
|Political party
|Australian Labor Party
|Alma mater
|University of Queensland
|ALP State Secretary
Michael Hans "Mike" Kaiser (born 20 April 1963 in Brisbane) was an Australian politician with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics from the University of Queensland.[1] He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2000 to 2001, representing the electorate of Woodridge. A former state secretary of the Queensland division of the Labor Party,[1] he resigned as an MP after an inquiry found that he was used in a 1986 Labor Party branch stacking exercise. Editorializing on his resignation, The Brisbane Courier Mail wrote: "It was a penalty this newspaper has stated was disproportionate to the offence he committed." 19 August 2003.
After conducting his own Government Affairs consultancy, he was rehabilitated by the Australian Labor Party in 2003 and served as its Assistant National Secretary in the lead up to and during the 2004 federal election.
He was subsequently employed as the Chief of Staff to New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma before becoming Chief of Staff to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh in late 2007.[2]
In December 2009, Kaiser commenced employment with NBN Co,[1] the Company established by the Rudd Government to design, build and operate a National Broadband Network, as its Corporate Affairs Executive. In September 2011 he became NBN Co's Head of Quality, responsible for customer/ consumer satisfaction, process improvement, data quality and response management.
- ^ a b c "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ Forgiving Premier hires party top gun who was linked to vote rigging — Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 16 February 2015.
|Parliament of Queensland
|Preceded by
Bill D'Arcy
|Member for Woodridge
|Succeeded by
Desley Scott
|This article about an Australian Labor Party politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.


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I am pretty sure my film deal will crumble like a deck of cards today. Someone has removed the cornerstone and the building is considerably shaky. I have phone calls to make to confirm the worst and I am putting it off. I am also waiting for a phone call in regards to my other film and I'm pretty sure that it "aint" going to be good news either. So pretty soon I could be back to square one, one guy with two film scripts, a dream and not much else. There is a great cost in chasing your dream, yesterday I was waiting for the bus late at night and I was actually jealous of people who have cars. You want the truth… I'm sitting here with tears rolling down my cheeks, I feel like giving up and going home but I don't know how…
8 thoughts on "I feel like giving up…"
No pain no gain? The lower your lows the higher your highs. Beyond the old cliches, you do still have your belief and your persistence; great tools and they're free. Be thankful if only for your chance to pursue your dream. Many of us are still searching.
Wow, Geoff, I am very sorry for what you're going through. I've been through a lot of heartache and disappointment myself, so I know how it feels, but, I also know that you are a great, very talented writer and one of these days one of those nincompoops is going to realize it, too! Don't give up my friend, you deserve much better and you will find it. Sending lots of love and hugs your way.
I know where you are, been there and still there somewhat. Have you read "Wide Awake" by Erwin McManus? it's about dreaming and it's really helpful. be praying for you
Fighting to get your dreams to reality is never easy, the roadblocks we encounter are sometimes so daunting. You know what you have to do regardless and that's never to give up. Don't allow the detours in life to suppress what u know to be true, and that is your work is more than deserving of being recognized and produced. You will succeed, its just a matter of relentlessly following it thru and not allowing yourself to be distracted by moments of short-term rejection and self-doubt. I'd wish you luck but you don't need it…your talent will get you there……
Oh no. That really sucks. Really. So sorry to hear that. Maybe now the horse has bucked you off you should just sit at the side of the road and rest for a bit. Take it easy on yourself. Have a look around – might be a nice view… Then in due time you could think about getting back on the horse.
Thank you to all friends for their support. In response to the horse comment…
I was on a horse and it was wild, crazy and uncontrollable; to use a favourite metaphor it was behaving like a cock without a brain. It didn't buck me off… I jumped off it before it had the chance. Although I was shaken I then got to my feet and I shot that crazy horse.
What I am trying to say is that although I got a fright and although I will never ride that particular horse again I am not afraid of horses. Today was tough but tommorow there is no reason why I won't go horse riding again
Remember, this too shall pass. I have gone through some hard times and it's funny how once you've come through to the other side you can barely believe how down in the dumps you actually were. Don't give up!!! Never, ever, ever. You wouldn't have gotten this far if you weren't talented. So many variables are involved in Hollywood, (both my son and husband work in "the biz", so I know how hard it can be.) Stick it out kid!
I'm sitting here thinking of the guy I went to school with….as he was he doesn't exist anymore…although ….he was the foundation for the passionate incredibly talented guy who sits in Hollywood…I don't care where in Hollywood…hostel or palace….you are there because of who you are…and maybe this opportunity has passed….but they haven't taken your talent, your passion, your dream or your desire…..you will succeed cause of those things…and no-one can take them away….Kia Kaha Geoff….


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- University of Wisconsin at Madison
- Imperial College London
San Francisco Scammer Posing As Bank Manager To Fleece Old Women - The C...
Police in San Francisco say a seedy character has scammed elderly women, ranging from 83 to 92 years old, out of thousands of dollars by pre
How to Survive the Switch from Google Reader to Google+
Sometime this week, Google Reader will retir
YouTube - COLD WAR KIDS - WE USED TO VACATION
Create AccountSign In. Home. BrowseMoviesUpload. Hey there, this is not a commercial interruption. You're using an outdated browser, whi
The Beautiful Video For MGMT's "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything"
The Beautiful Video For MGMT's "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything": MGMT covered "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" by Bauhaus from t...
Chicago: The Wilco towers
When looking for a photo for its much-ballyhooed 2002 album, Wilco found a building whose uniqueness matched the band's.
Evening Kitchen (Interface) Video by Band of Horses
Watch Evening Kitchen (Interface) Video by Band of Horses
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City Sticker With Supposed Gang Symbolism Scrapped. The city replaced Herbert Pulgar's city sticker design with one that would ostensibl
Alabama Frat Boy Cries Over Loss To LSU
Alabama Frat Boy Cries Over Loss To LSU: This is what I call the picture of the century. See a bigger version
@Horse_ebooks - Neven Mrgan's tumbl
Wednesday, November 2 2011. There's no putting this horse back in the bag, so I'm just going to make sure you hear about it from me
OK, so while people are talking about the... - MY BRAIN IS MADE OF THING...
OK, so while people are talking about the Microsoft Vision of the Future video and Apple and Steve Jobs and magical everything, I have some
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Movies Vs. Reality. By Michael, November 1, 2011 3:37 PM. Microsoft is a company run by engineers. Engineers love science fiction, right? (o
Speedometer design
kottke.org ...is a weblog about the liberal arts 2.0 edited by Jason Kottke since March 1998 (archives). You can read about me and kottke.or
The Jobsian fallacy | Smarterware
The Jobsian fallacy. October 31, 2011. Scott Berkun: I'm sad Steve Jobs is gone. I'm sadder still to see the vultures of shallow thi
Boxer Briefs, Part II: The Briefening - Neven Mrgan's tumbl
Monday, October 31 2011. Earlier this year I shared with you, dear fan of Apple products and parbaked design-opinions, some thoughts on idea


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Gilt Wine
Cult Classic Orange Wine (92 points) - Vitovksa Amphora 2006
- Wine:
- One 750 mL bottle
- Ships From:
- California
- New Jersey
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Description: 92 points, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
Sommelier Selection: Top 5 Gilt Taste Wines selected by Joe Campanale, owner of New York's Dell'Anima, Anfora Wine Bar and L'Artusi"This vineyard is in the middle of nowhere Italy. There are dustballs. Nothing else. It's tough living. This winemaker is so connected to where he comes from. When I visited him, we sat down at the kitchen table of his mother's house and chatted for two hours before we realized,'oh wait!' we are here to see the grapes! - Joe Campanale, co-owner of dell'anima
Why to buy: If you're looking for an unforgettable white that's off-the-beaten path, start with this Friulian cult classic. Antonio Galloni, from Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate describes this tiny production wine as "eccentric" and "totally beautiful," and we couldn't agree more.
Characteristics: This wine brims with candied citrus, white spice and flowers and is silky and rich with fragrant fruit flavor. We absolutely love it with rich braised pork, crisp-edged short ribs, and fresh pasta with whole milk ricotta – basically anything unctuous that would do well with a balance of citrus zest. Made from a Slovenian grape called Vitovska, the wine is beautifully orange in color thanks to a six-month long fermentation in Georgian clay amphorae with indigenous yeasts and no temperature controls. Winemaker, Paolo Vodopivec believes the grape is capable of "profound aging," so it's a fun and unusual choice for someone with a cellar.
Varietals:100% Vitovska
Appellation:Friuli Venezia Giuilia IGT
Brand: Gilt Wine
Origin: Italy


text:
Please contact a dealer in your area and arrange a test ride.
If your are not in the U.S, but would like to purchase a KHS bicycle, please check with our
International Distributors.
Powered by
Google Maps and
phpGoogleLocator, an open-source software
If you are looking for a bike and cannot find one at your local bike shop, Please check out BikeStoreGuys.com
To our KHS Dealers, if you find
your information to be incorrect or missing, please use the
Dealer Address Change Form
to update us with your correct contact information. Thank you!


text:
DOHA: What is going on in Iraq poses a serious threat to the security of the Arab Gulf states, says a former Iraqi vice-president who has been based here for quite some time.
The goings-on in Iraq and a missile attack by the Iraqi Shia militia group, Al Battat, which is backed by Tehran, on a wedding party in a border area of Saudi Arabia recently, reflect the changing balance of power in favour of Iran and Syria, said Tareq Al Hashemi. Coupled with what is happening in Bahrain, clearly shows that the security of the GCC states is under threat, he said.
"This is all a game plan to divert the attention from the true nature of the conflict in Iraq, which is essentially political. But it is being painted as sectarian by describing Sunnis as terrorists."
Al Hashemi told Al Sharq in an interview conducted by its Editor-in-Chief, Jaber Al Harami, recently that the above game-plan was a brainchild of the notorious axis (Iraq's Shia regime led by Nouri Al Maliki, Iran and Bashar Al Assad of Syria).
The ploy is to turn Iraq into a threat to the security of the GCC states instead of being a frontline state dedicated to the region's (GCC) defense (against Iran) that it (Iraq) always has been. "They are now trying to turn Iraq into a problem for the security of the whole Arab world."
"Today, everything is crystal-clear: Iranian aircraft are carrying weapons to Syria through Iraq."
Shia militias from Iraq loyal to Iran's supreme leader are fighting in Syria to defend Al Assad's forces, and making the people of Syria suffer.
Most important of all, Iraq's wealth is being used to help Iran offset the negative impact of the sanctions. The wealth is being used to back Hezbollah.
Al Hashemi said that recently he got information from Iraq that Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki was creating militant groups among GCC citizens to destabilise the GCC states.
"This is a joint conspiracy of Al Maliki and Iran. I informed the people concerned but was disappointed with their response."
"A recent statement by the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that they would at no cost abandon Syria, for it was a country in the frontline of Tehran's defence."
"So, my question is, what happens to the (historical) status of Iraq as a state that has been on the frontline of the defence of Arab Gulf countries?" said Iraq's former vice-president.
"The GCC states should always treat Iraq as a buffer state key to their security. If Iraq collapses, the conflict therein would spill over into this region. This is for sure."
Famous Qatari columnist Dr Mohamed Al Musfir, meanwhile, said in one of his latest writings that, based on Iran's directives, Nouri Al Maliki had managed to create the terror outfit of the 'Islamic States of Iraq and Syria' (ISIS) to provide the necessary backup to the present warfare in Iraq's Al Anbar province.
"The aim of the ISIS is to crush everyone who is opposed to the hegemony of Iran in the region and the Shia control of Iraq."
They want Syria to wrestle with the tangled issue of sectarianism the way Iraq has been for more than 10 years now, said Al Musfir.
In his address in Karbala recently, Al Maliki said that Karbala is Qibla (direction which Muslims turn to in prayers). "We are all Hussain's army and we are fighting Yezid's army. There is a sea of fire between us (Shias) and them (Sunnis)."
"The imams all over the GCC should raise this issue of the axis of Iran-Iraq, and Syria (in their Friday sermons)," said Al Musfir. "The Iranian imams talk openly against Sunnis (in their sermons)." Izzat Al Ibrahim, the secretary-general of Baath Party in Iraq who is a former associate of Saddam Hussein and still wanted by the US, said in an interview on the phone to Egypt's Al Ahram published on January 7 (the first interview given to the media since the American invasion of Iraq) that Saudi Arabia today was the citadel of resistance against all the conspiratorial efforts to demolish the Arab identity.
"Had Saudi not been making those efforts Iran would be having unquestioned hegemony in the region," said Al Ibrahim.
"I appreciate the Saudi stand of supporting the people of Syria and the regime of Bahrain and those of other GCC states, and the Iraqi people and their revolution and the revolution in Arab Spring countries."
The Iranians want to make Iraq the base to launch attack on the GCC countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, he said. Eyad Al Alawi, another former vice-president of Iraq, in an interview published by the local Arabic daily Al Watan, said Iran wanted to destabilise the region.
Iran's plan is to dominate the Arab world. Its constitution makes it mandatory for all Iranians to learn Arabic, said Dr Mohamed Al Rumaihi, a famous Kuwaiti columnist. "They want to Iranise Islam."
The Sunni rebels fighting the Shia regime in Iraq are led by former associates and army commanders of Saddam Hussein. "So it's not a sectarian warfare in Iraq," said Jihad Al Khazin in a column published in London's Al Hayat newspaper. The Peninsula


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Give the gift of choice
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Add a gift box during Step 2 of Checkout for $6 per item.


text:
Welcome to the Region 4 of the National Labor Relations Board. We conduct elections, investigate charges of unfair labor practices, and protect the rights of workers to act together, serving eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey from our office in Philadelphia. If you have questions or wish to file a charge or petition for election, please visit our office or call and ask for the Information Officer on duty. We can arrange to have someone speak with you in the language of your choice. We are also happy to provide speakers and materials to promote a greater understanding of the National Labor Relations Act.
In light of the expected large influx of visitors to Philadelphia PA in the days leading up to the Papal visit to that city scheduled for September 26 and 27, 2015, the Agency's Philadelphia Regional Office will not be open to the public on Friday, September 25, 2015.
The Philadelphia Regional Office will not schedule representation or unfair labor practice hearings from Thursday, September 24 through and including Monday, September 28. Moreover, the Regional Office will be unable to receive mail or other deliveries on Friday, September 25.


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Mines helps lift Edinboro wrestlers past Michigan State
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Kory Mines' major decision ignited a late three-match win streak and propelled Edinboro to a 22-12 victory over Michigan State in a non-conference wrestling match Friday night.
Mines, wrestling at 125 pounds, posted a 13-2 major decision over Josh Heinzer that wiped out a 12-9 deficit and gave the Fighting Scots the lead for good at 13-12 in the eighth match of the night.
Edinboro's fifth-ranked A.J. Schopp followed with a pin over Christian Olanowski at 1 minute, 16 seconds, in the 133-pound match.
The Scots' Mitchell Port, also ranked fifth nationally, closed out the meet with a 3-0 win over Nick Trimble at 141 pounds.
In one of the meet's earlier highlights, Michigan State's 12th-ranked heavyweight, Mike McClure, edged Edinboro's 20th-ranked Ernest James 2-0.
The two teams split the first six matches, with Edinboro's 18th-ranked David Habat opening the meet with a 3-1 decision over Dan Osterman at 149 pounds and the Scots' 16th-ranked Johnny Greisheimer blanking Ryan Watts 4-0 at 165 pounds.
Michigan State claimed the next two matches, but Edinboro's Warren Bosch helped the Scots even the score at 9-9 with a 6-4 sudden victory over Nick McDiarmid at 197 pounds.


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on October 6, 2012 - 12:01 AM
West Seneca should focus on real issues
As a West Seneca resident, I concur completely with the writer to this column about the supposed feral cat problem we are experiencing in our town. I am also a responsible owner to multiple indoor cats and have never witnessed hordes of strays on anyone's property.
I must take umbrage with Town Supervisor Sheila Meegan for making this her platform concern at this time. Whether isolated or exaggerated, I am astounded by this displaced focus on a non-issue.
In lieu of trying to abate the cat population, I have a few proposals. Tend to the high unsightly weeds growing out of the sidewalks, paint the rusty guardrails along every bridge, keep vacant lots mowed, lure businesses to occupy vacated stores and gas stations, and please do something with the old Seneca Mall site. All of these are an embarrassing eyesore!
Elizabeth D. Sikorski
West Seneca


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January 18, 2000
Kill Rock Stars
Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
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Album Review
Well, here's a somewhat unexpected CD. Three songs each from two pop faves who float just a bit beneath the radar of the elusive star-making tastes of America's mass audience. First up is Boston's Mary Lou, whose God-given way with cover songs involves a propensity for diluting nearly any song she chooses; she's a musical food processor with one speed: liquefy. A prime example is the way she smoothes the edge right off of Lucinda Williams' "Hard Road," transforming it from a savory Southern pecan pie to a cutesy, gelatinous marshmallow puff. Her short list of original compositions isn't added to here either;
's three songs, including the aforementioned "Hard Road," are all covers. Sean Na Na fares a bit better, scoring one of his biggest hits here with "Princess and the Pony," a charismatic song in which Tillman ruminates on his eventual funeral party blowout. Tillman also tries his hand at songwriter "Lucky" Jeremy Allen's "My Old France," arranging a full band around Allen's spare, acoustic song.
Bryan Carroll, Rovi
Track Listing
Bang Bang
Hard Road
Aim Low
Princess and the Pony
Stretch Marks
My Old France
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Hi I'm Jacob LaFond
About Me
I've lived all over the USA. I have all kinds of hobbies I dabble in but don't excel any of them. I hike, canoe, camp, write, read, love school and learning, and hanging with friends and spending time with my beautiful wife. I'm always up for an adventure.
Why I am a Mormon
I'm a Mormon for many reasons. Probably most importantly because it brings me peace knowing I'm doing what God wants me to do. When one is baptized and receives The Gift of the Holy Ghost, he or she is entitled to constant guidance and reassurance from on high. These promptings are a constant reminder of my faith. They help me see what I am doing right, and what I could be doing better at. There's not greater feeling that I know of than the knowledge that what I'm doing is in line with God's will. I know that as one lives according to God's commandments nothing is impossible.
How I live my faith
Everyday I pray and study the scriptures, (The Bible, Book of Mormon, and the words of living prophets). Each time I read and pray with the right attitude the Holy Spirit is there, and can enlighten me as to how I can live my life more in harmony with the teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ.


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Kristen Stewart & Juliette Binoche in 'Clouds Of Sils Maria' Trailer
The Cannes Film Festival is drawing to a close (check out all our coverage here), and while most of the big players for the coveted Palme d'Or prize have already played, there's at least one more film yet to premiere that still has a chance. Olivier Assayas latest drama Clouds of Sils Maria is debuting in France this week, the story of an aging actress (Juliette Binoche), starring in a new production of a play that made her famous a long time ago. The younger role she played in the beginning of her career has gone to a younger actress (Chloe Grace Moretz), and she finds herself reflecting on the star she used to be. Kristen Stewart also has a prominent role as Binoche's assistant, and she seems to hold her own. Watch!
Two Weeks: Going Crazy on Day 9 of Cannes - It's What We All Do
The days are starting to blur, our conversations are starting to sound like poorly-written SNL sketches. It's Day 9, I think, at Cannes 2014 and we're still here - most of us. Droves of critics who have been going to sleep at 1AM, and waking up at 7AM for the last 8 days straight. We're all exhausted, delirious, starting to forget which films we saw only a few days ago. This is what it's like at film festivals, especially if you stick it out for all 12 days, from the beginning to the end. We all start to burn out after the midway point, but then we see a film that blows us away, reminding us why we travel all the way over here - all for the love of film.
Cannes 2014: Xavier Dolan's Excellent 'Mommy' is Cinema at its Best
This is the film I was waiting to see at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The one that is not only phenomenal in every way, but pushes the form, challenging audiences and cinema as we know it. Quebecois filmmaker Xavier Dolan has returned to Cannes with his fifth feature, titled Mommy, a remarkably entertaining and ravishing work of art about raising a wild teen with ADHD in a fictional Canada. It's breathtaking, beautiful, stimulating and actually takes advantage of the art of visuals and the format of cinema in a remarkable way. Mommy is the masterpiece of Cannes 2014 that I was waiting to fall in love with. Dolan has done it again.
Cannes 2014: Hazanavicius' 'The Search' is Better Than Critics Claim
Every May, I fly all the way across the Atlantic to Cannes Film Festival just to watch good films. Films that are interesting, invigorating, exciting, entertaining, moving, no matter what they may be or who may have directed them, as along as they are good. Even those that are stories we may have seen before in other films, it doesn't matter, I'm not here to see failed experiments, I'm here to watch well-made, well-meaning movies. Ever since The Artist won the Best Picture Oscar in 2011, critics have been unnecessarily hating on director Michel Hazanavicius. I believe he's a great filmmaker and his latest, The Search, is another solid film.
Two Weeks: Why I Love Cannes - Making Friends on the Croisette
You never know who you'll meet on the Croisette. That's the joy of it. Every year I come to the Cannes Film Festival I always make new friends. While I'm just as anxious to catch up with old friends and colleagues I've been attending with for years, it's just as exciting to meet new ones. A few days ago while at the festival, I stopped to grab a lunch at a small cafe near the flat we are staying in. I had just finished a few screenings, was incredibly hungry and tired, and stopped in by myself. It was there I met two friends who inspired me to write about them, and this is only just the start. I could tell so many more stories about all the people here.
Cannes 2014: Zhang Yimou's Tender, Moving New Film 'Coming Home'
What if you returned home to your loved one, a wife, a husband, any significant other, after years apart and they didn't recognize you? That is the idea behind Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou's latest film, Coming Home, based on Geling Yan's novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi, which opened in China a few weeks ago and just premiered out-of-competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. This is a beautiful, tender, moving film about love and dedication and patience, and will leave you with tears in your eyes, as long as you still have a beating heart inside your chest. It may be a simple story, but it's such a special, sincere film made with care.
'The Artist' Director Returns with Cannes Selected 'The Search' Trailer
The Cannes Film Festival has just a few days left, and there's still some great films left to premiere overseas. One such film marks the reunion of The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius and star Berenice Bejo in The Search, set against the backdrop of the second Cechen War. Annette Bening also stars in the film, and now the first trailer from France has arrived. Thankfully, most of the trailer is in English, though there are some moments in French that don't have English subtitles. But even without that clarification, we still get the vibe that this could be a pretty big Oscar contender that is much different than The Artist from 2011 as it focuses on the war from the point-of-view of children as victims stuck in the middle of the danger. Watch!
Cannes 2014: Tatum & Carell Are Outstanding in Miller's 'Foxcatcher'
It's a breath of fresh air in the cinema when a film premieres that is very hard to compare to any other films. It represents something entirely unique, in the story, the characters, the subtle decisions made throughout, and while it may be categorized as a sports drama, it is so much more. Foxcatcher is the third feature film from Bennett Miller, and it is his best work yet, showing that he continues to improve as he continues to make more films. Following his last two Best Picture-nominated films, Capote and Moneyball, Miller tells another based-on-real-life story that resonates as poignantly today as it did when the events first occurred.
Cannes 2014: Östlund's Brilliant Ski Vacation Comedy 'Force Majeure'
I never would've thought I might encounter a ski movie comedy at Cannes, and that it would be something I could call brilliant, yet every year I'm surprised by discoveries and this is another that will go down as one of my favorites of this festival. From Sweden comes a film titled Force Majeure, or also known as Turist (in French) at the festival, a dark comedy set in the French Alps following a family on a ski vacation. Directed by Ruben Östlund, who made two Free Radicals ski movies back in the 90s, the film plays with human dynamics and our responses to situations, but is enlivened by hilarious dark comedy. I really loved this one.
Two Weeks: Une Invitation S.V.P! A Tribute to Festival Ticket Seekers
"Une Invitation, S'il vous plaît!" Those who frequent the Palais day in, and day out, at the Cannes Film Festival are unquestionably aware of the ticket seekers found outside of the entrance. They're there every day, from morning to midnight, requesting "one ticket, please (and thank you)". "Une" just means "one", and an invitation is the name for the ticket at the festival. S'il vous plaît, often abbreviated "S.V.P." on the signs, means "please" in French. After years of encountering, interacting with, and admiring these dedicate moviegoers, and their increasingly impressive signage, once again inspired by Ebert I've decided to write a tribute to them. If you've ever wondered how to get a ticket in to a Cannes screening this is the trick to learn.
Cannes 2014: Michôd's 'The Rover' - A Quiet Film That Speaks Loudly
The power of silence. At Sundance in 2010 I fell hard for a gritty, unforgiving Australian crime drama called Animal Kingdom, directed by David Michôd. His next film, titled The Rover, just premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and Michôd has once again created an unrelenting, brutal and carefully calculated subversive post-apocalyptic thriller with hints of Mad Max. But a much better comparison, even though I hate to make another comparison, is Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive, the Cannes 2011 breakout. The power of The Rover is in its silence, and bleak imagery. Michod's choices and shots speak loudly without being loud.
Cannes 2014: Gabe Polsky's 'Red Army' Hockey Doc is Outstanding
From behind the Iron Curtain comes an inside look at Soviet Russia's Red Army hockey team in a new documentary titled Red Army, which just premiered at Cannes 2014. Directed by Gabe Polsky (The Motel Life), this outstanding doc focuses one of the greatest hockey players to ever live, Viacheslav "Slava" Fetisov, who was trained by the national Red Army team since age 10, playing for the USSR throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, as well as in the NHL before eventually taking the job as Minister of Sport in Russia. It's a fascinating and surprisingly moving doc about passionate hockey players just playing the sport they love.
Two Weeks: On Cannes Critics Who Leave Just Before the Film Ends
Continuing my "Two Weeks in the South of France" adventures at the Cannes Film Festival, I finally have some thoughts to write after my morning press screening of Atom Egoyan's Captives. This festival, in all its grandeur, attracts the most diverse group of critics from all over the world. There is likely a critic attending from almost every country in the world, at least the majority of them, and this makes Cannes the ultimate global film festival, something that many other fests aspire to be but can't pull off like they do. I love this diversity and have made many new friends, but there are interesting quirks with a group of press this large.
James Franco & 'Spring Breakers 2' Producers Sling Dirt at Each Other
Just over a week ago, we learned that Spring Breakers was getting a sequel in the form of Spring Breakers: The Second Coming. However, director Harmony Korine wasn't involved in the project at all, and Jonas Akerlund was set to direct the film from Trainspotting writer Irvine Welsh. Well, James Franco took to Instagram to blast the sequel, and let everyone know that the project was moving forward without Korine's permission, and he made a pretty bold comparison to complain about the mere existence of the sequel. But the producers, busy selling the film at Cannes, have already fired back at the actor. Read on!
› Posted May 15 in Cannes 14, Hype, Movie News | Comments
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for the BSN Awards!
Each year, blendedschools recognizes the achievements of several remarkable people across the cohort. This year, we are especially excited about these awards, as we plan to announce our winners at our Decade of Service Jubilee being held online and at sites across Pennsylvania on April 11, 2012.
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Tim Hudson grew up an Atlanta Braves fan in Phenix City, Ala., watched the vaunted staff of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz through his college years, and now has a chance to join their elite company. Hudson is going for 200 career wins Friday night at PNC Park, a milestone Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz all reached in a Braves uniform.
Hudson Going for Career Win No. 200 Friday
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