The USDA awarded a $25 million contract to Unisys last Thursday that runs for five years, with with an indefinite amount of work to be done and no definite time for it to be finished. Unisys, headquarted in Blue Bell, Pa., has 26,000 employees, works around the world and consults with government agencies and businesses on information technology issues - hardware and software and all the people and processes that are involved in IT.
     This latest contract is for Unisys to operate, maintain and enhance the USDA Reural Development Guaranted Loan System, and Guaranteed Underwriting Systems, which process billions of dollars in loans each year for rural businesses and individuals. Unisys was on board in 1999, when GLS and GUS were first started. The new contract includes a base year, with four one-year options, which are renewable at the discretion of the USDA. 
     The agency also awarded Unisys a five-year contract to maintain and enhance the USDA's Program Funds Control System, which is a key component of the American Recovery and Reinvestmen Act.
    Apparently there's a lot of paid consulting going on in Washington, and not just at the USDA. It's a bit bothersome to think that these kinds of management tasks are handed off to private firms. But then, if the private companies were'nt doing the work, government employees would shoulder the tasks. That could be more expensive in the long run, because government employees don't operate with five-year contracts, they tend to stay around for 25 or 30 years.
     Unless they're elected, then they stick around for life.


     Bats eat bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. So, in spite of the mystery, the mythology, the mistakes surrounding these flying mammals, they are actually a valuable part of the ecosystem. And they're dying by the hundreds of thousands. They're succombing to a fungal disease, white nose syndrome, in a plague which has wildlife experts very worried. Lancaster Farming staff writer Chris Torres talked to bat experts about the problem. You can read his report in our current edition, or you can check it out here:    http://www.lancasterfarming.com/node/2697


     What's really amazing is how fast this guy moves.  http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/amazing-3-d-paper-design/1ab2lao1a