These angry Dutch farmers really hate Microsoft
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As soon as Lars Ruiter steps out of his car, he is confronted by a Microsoft security guard, who is already seething with anger. Ruiter, a local councillor, has parked in the rain outside a half-finished Microsoft data center that rises out of the flat North Holland farmland. He wants to see the construction site. The guard, who recognizes Ruiter from a previous visit when he brought a TV crew here, says that's not allowed. Within minutes, the argument has escalated, and the guard has his hand around Ruiter's throat.
The security guard lets go of Ruiter within a few seconds, and the councillor escapes with a red mark across his neck. Back in his car, Ruiter insists he's fine. But his hands shake when he tries to change gears. He says the altercation-which he will later report to the police-shows the fog of secrecy that surrounds the Netherlands' expanding data center business.