The Air Force is bankrolling a Hollywood screenwriting class. A screenwriting class for PhDs. No, seriously.

Now, the government has dabbled in the movie business before. The CIA, for instance, produced an animated version of Animal Farm. After 9/11, the BBC notes, Die Hard screenwriter Steve de Souza was one of two dozen writers and directors who were "commissioned to brainstorm with Pentagon advisers" about possible terror plots. The Army currently works with a bunch of Hollywood types at USC to build next-generation simulators.

And this isn't the only unusual source the Pentagon is tapping for its know-how. As USA Today reports, Defense Department officials are growing increasingly interested in Craigslist, YouTube, and other fast-moving start-ups, for ideas about how terror groups operate.

Read the original DefenseTech article for quotes from relevant articles. DefenseTech is a great blog, which I suggest reading regularly.

If the DoD is increasingly interested in technology companies for ideas about how terrorist groups operate, they should contact The Industrial Memetics Institute. We know a thing or two about a thing or two. We have "cells" in several states, maintain no physical offices, require all "operatives" to be able to communicate using strong encryption, and have our own media outlet. However, none of it is "underground" because there is no need. We are very much a "scene" interested in security...

Defense Tech: Pentagon Pays Screenwriters, Eyes MemeStreams