Where: NSA Information Dominance Center
The Prime Directive: "Collect It All"
Just when you thought things with the NSA couldn't get any more absurd, as the NSA scandal moves from outrageously appalling to downright laughable, the latest report in the Guardian shows the current NSA chief spent US taxpayers' money, a ridiculously lot of it, to create a command center for his intelligence operations that was styled just like bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise D.
From the PBS News Hour report: 'When he was running the Army's Intelligence and Security Command, Alexander brought many of his future allies down to Fort Belvoir for a tour of his base of operations, a facility known as the Information Dominance Center. It had been designed by a Hollywood set designer to mimic the bridge of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek, complete with chrome panels, computer stations, a huge TV monitor on the forward wall (a 22-foot screen), and doors that made a 'whoosh' sound when they slid open and closed. Lawmakers and other important officials took turns sitting in a leather 'captain's chair' in the center of the room and watched as Alexander, a lover of science-fiction movies, showed off his data tools on the big screen. "Everybody wanted to sit in the chair at least once to pretend he was Jean-Luc Picard," says a retired officer in charge of VIP visit.'"
Larger pictures of the "bridge" of the NSA Starship: http://www.dbia.com/projectpage/LIWA.pdf
Like the article says, "Any casual review of human history proves how deeply irrational it is to believe that powerful factions can be trusted to exercise vast surveillance power with little accountability or transparency. But the more they proudly flaunt their warped imperial hubris, the more irrational it becomes."
Set course for Accountability and Transparency. Warp 8.
Engage.
The Prime Directive: "Collect It All"
Just when you thought things with the NSA couldn't get any more absurd, as the NSA scandal moves from outrageously appalling to downright laughable, the latest report in the Guardian shows the current NSA chief spent US taxpayers' money, a ridiculously lot of it, to create a command center for his intelligence operations that was styled just like bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise D.
From the PBS News Hour report: 'When he was running the Army's Intelligence and Security Command, Alexander brought many of his future allies down to Fort Belvoir for a tour of his base of operations, a facility known as the Information Dominance Center. It had been designed by a Hollywood set designer to mimic the bridge of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek, complete with chrome panels, computer stations, a huge TV monitor on the forward wall (a 22-foot screen), and doors that made a 'whoosh' sound when they slid open and closed. Lawmakers and other important officials took turns sitting in a leather 'captain's chair' in the center of the room and watched as Alexander, a lover of science-fiction movies, showed off his data tools on the big screen. "Everybody wanted to sit in the chair at least once to pretend he was Jean-Luc Picard," says a retired officer in charge of VIP visit.'"
Larger pictures of the "bridge" of the NSA Starship: http://www.dbia.com/projectpage/LIWA.pdf
Like the article says, "Any casual review of human history proves how deeply irrational it is to believe that powerful factions can be trusted to exercise vast surveillance power with little accountability or transparency. But the more they proudly flaunt their warped imperial hubris, the more irrational it becomes."
Set course for Accountability and Transparency. Warp 8.
Engage.
