1) You can’t know that there aren’t any quarries in Iowa in the 2300’s.

2) You do not know whether, when kirk is viewing the Enterprise’s construction that 1) It is actually the enterprise (The enterprise was not the first of its class) and 2) that he is still in Iowa (this scene apparently being at least 10-15 years later).

3) The cop is a man. Even in the 24th century Starfleet (and indeed the federation) had not perfected artificial intelligence and automata

4)Kirk meeting the Romulans before Balance of Terror is not against the Canon. These romulans are from the 24th century and not a part of the Romulan Star Empire (or the Romulan Imperial State). They are Romulan Pirates.

5)It has never been suggested in Star Trek history that Kirk only ever met Kirk after his promotion to Captain.

6) This is a reboot movie. It technically has nothing to do with Star Trek as we know it.

Why arcologies in Iowa and not SF? To make the state more ‘green’ and increase amount of farmland, which is somewhat reflective of the current trending towards ecological conscience in the US. Conjecture is that agricultural states would use arcologies to minimize urban sprawl, maximize farmland. Hybrid strains of corn that would go from seed to harvest in one month to increase food production.

Why build the Enterprise on the ground? Because it’s less expensive in terms of materials and manpower, and more efficient in terms of on-site engineering/testing. If this version of Trek is realistic in the Clarke/Forward/Benford sorta scientific sense, it cannot rely on ‘Idiot Plot’ devices like ‘anyone can go anywhere for free, without having to worry about things like fuel or cost’. Building it in orbit would require shuttling people back and forth between the orbit dock and Earth. A humorous example based on the International Space Station’s recent situation could apply here (the toilets don’t work, so you have to fly the plumber up in a shuttlecraft to fix ‘em). Another thought: If Enterprise is Starfleet’s flagship, then it’s the best of the best in terms of science and engineering. An analogy would be that it is the ‘Space Shuttle’ or ‘Pioneer’ of it’s era. To do anything that really leaps forward and pushes the technology envelope, the resources mandated to accomplish such an endeavor are prodigious. We’re learning that with trying to maintain a permanently manned space station in orbit. Thus, realistically, it’s analogous to the ISS scenario where module components are build in labs then flown up into orbit. To me, these would be just some of the justifications to build the Enterprise on the ground: efficiency to make sure that all that cutting-edge technology is in the groove.

If Nero is a major threat, then Starfleet has to make certain that they get it frellin’ right when they build the Enterprise (had to throw in a bone to Farscape since so many are saying frakkin ala BSG in their posts).

Enjoyed read through all your posts…