Roddenberry Got It Wrong

Every fan of Star Trek knows that Starfleet Academy is located at the former Presidio of San Francisco, and that Starfleet Headquarters is located across the Golden Gate Bridge in the Marin Headlands (clearly seen in ST IV, known colloquially as "the one with the whales").

Every fan of Star Trek is wrong. Starfleet Headquarters will be located in Tehran.

Reader and former student John sent me this link for proof.

On February 3, Tehran placed its indigenous satellite into orbit -- joining an elite group of countries capable of both producing satellites and sending them into space using domestic launchers.

What's that have to do with Starfleet Command? Go to the link above and look at the satellite's logo, which will also appear on Iranian coins and currency. (Side note--I totally have to get some of those coins!) Do you notice any similarity? Might Paramount sue for some form of copyright infringement?

This would be funny if it weren't so serious. Iran is not now, nor has it ever been, just another Middle East country, one that's important only because it has oil under its sands. It's a large, populous, relatively modern and educated country, one that can be a valuable ally or a violent foe. Unfortunately, for the past 30 years it has chosen to be the latter.

Should Iran throw off its fundamentalist Islamist shackles and return to the company of civilized nations, the world would be a better place--and so would Iran. If it does not, and continues to be a threat, perhaps a new empire, with a new logo, might emerge to diminish that threat. Notice which side of the planet is shown in the ascendancy. =)

Update, 5/14/17:  Here's the logo.