HUGE WASHINGTON POST EXPOSE: NSA HAS GOTTEN SO BIG, AREA AROUND IT HAS 112 ACRES OF PARKING SPACES

[unhappycamper]

HUGE WASHINGTON POST EXPOSE: NSA HAS GOTTEN SO BIG, AREA AROUND IT HAS 112 ACRES OF PARKING SPACES
By Raw Story
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 -- 9:02 am

In yet another terrifying expose, The Washington Post continues to lift the veil on just how massive the US government's spying operation has become.

Dana Priest -- whose Pulitzer prize winning journalism exposed the existence of U.S. secret prisons abroad, continues in today's story to show just how much money is being shelled out to the private companies that now operate the lion's share of America's spy network.

It's not just AT&T that operates or once operated a secret call center in San Francisco intercepting your phone calls anymore:

From the road, it's impossible to tell how large the NSA has become, even though its buildings occupy 6.3 million square feet - about the size of the Pentagon - and are surrounded by 112 acres of parking spaces. As massive as that might seem, documents indicate that the NSA is only going to get bigger: 10,000 more workers over the next 15 years; $2 billion to pay for just the first phase of expansion; an overall increase in size that will bring its building space throughout the Fort Meade cluster to nearly 14 million square feet.

More than 250 companies - 13 percent of all the firms in Top Secret America - have a presence in the Fort Meade cluster. Some have multiple offices, such as Northrop Grumman, which has 19, and SAIC, which has 11. In all, there are 681 locations in the Fort Meade cluster where businesses conduct top-secret work...

[ixion]

1. The Corporate Police State marches on

:argh:

[DirkGently]

2. Throw these figures at the "deficit hawks" who say we

can't afford SS and Medicare, much less a jobs bill. They want to use Stimulus funds for everything. Let's take some intelligence / military funds FIRST. There's plenty of waste to go 'round. Hell, we could probably have National Healthcare for the cost of a half dozen of the new "Homeland Security" outfits.

[Blue Owl]

3. Hey teabaggers, want some big government?

Look no further than Dubya, your glorious Decider.

And he did it all in secret, unbeknownst to the majority of his country, in a most un-democratic, sneaky way imaginable.

[Robb]

4. How big?

NSA had 20,000 direct-hire employees in http://www.fas.org/irp/commission/budget.htm">1996. How many today?