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NSA Building $860 Million Data Center In Maryland

Posted by timothy on from the indifferent-to-your-objections dept.

1sockchuck writes "As its current data collection makes headlines, the National Security Agency is continuing to expand its data storage and processing capabilities. The agency recently broke ground on an $860 million data center at Fort Meade, Maryland that will span more than 600,000 square feet. The project will provide additional IT capacity beyond the NSA's controversial Utah data center. The new facility will be supported by 60 megawatts of power and use both air-cooled and liquid-cooled equipment."

2 of 177 comments (clear)

  1. Fixing the problem by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's become clear that the federal government no longer serves the interests of the people.

    Does anyone have suggestions for fixing the problem?

    Whenever some "government done did wrong again" article comes up, the comments are all non-constructive: blithe unconcern, fatalism, pessimism, and so on.

    What constructive actions can be taken, and how can the people be encouraged to support these actions?

    My one idea: If people could band together and agree to vote out the incumbent (senator, representative, president) whenever one of these incidents crop up, there would be incentive for politicians to better serve the people in order to continue in office. This would mean giving up party loyalty and the idea of "lessor of two evils", which a lot of people won't do. Some congressional elections are quite close, so 2,000 or so petitioners might be enough to swing a future election.

    (And no, replies of "you won't accomplish anything because of this reason" are not constructive.)

    1. Re:Fixing the problem by RabidReindeer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's become clear that the federal government no longer serves the interests of the people.

      Does anyone have suggestions for fixing the problem?

      Whenever some "government done did wrong again" article comes up, the comments are all non-constructive: blithe unconcern, fatalism, pessimism, and so on.

      What constructive actions can be taken, and how can the people be encouraged to support these actions?

      My one idea: If people could band together and agree to vote out the incumbent (senator, representative, president) whenever one of these incidents crop up, there would be incentive for politicians to better serve the people in order to continue in office. This would mean giving up party loyalty and the idea of "lessor of two evils", which a lot of people won't do. Some congressional elections are quite close, so 2,000 or so petitioners might be enough to swing a future election.

      (And no, replies of "you won't accomplish anything because of this reason" are not constructive.)

      From what I've seen, local politicians are mostly OK. They may be corrupt, but practicality doesn't get pushed aside by blind partisanship. Moving up to the state level, it's less so, especially recently in my own home state. But since the name recognition for reaching state office generally comes from having first participated at local levels, we could start turning this thing around by considering more carefully the records of those we "promote" to that level. I've seen too many regional/statewide campagins where the reason for voting for the other guy is that "So-and-so is Too Liberal" or "Such-and-such has strong Conservative values". Forget all this Liberal/Conservative, Republican/Democrat, Us/Them crap. Look beyond the narrow issues and the one-size-fits-all solutions and don't vote for the person who reaffirms your strongest prejudices, vote for the person most likely to do actual practical good.

      Vote 1-strike-and-you're out. If the person you elect ends up doing the same old thing as everyone else has been doing, vote for someone else next time, even if it's not the ideal person. Even if the other guy makes your skin crawl. One bad choice only makes a difference if all the choices are the same bad choice. That's why we have groups of legislators. Make them all fear for their jobs, because no matter how much you spend on a campaign, if the people don't vote for you, it's no good.

      And do it again for the next level up, all the way to the top. We need to stop voting our emotions and vote with our brains. We need to move beyond the same old solutions-that-can't-solve, and it doesn't matter whether the reason they failed was actual flaws in the solution or simply that the solution requires an unrealistic set of circumstances (such as zero opposition) to work.

      In the end, we always get the government we deserve, but I'd like to think we deserve better than what we've got.