Welcome to Left Out, reality-based independent radio broadcasting on WRCT 88.3FM and podcasting on the worldwide web at leftout.info. Left Out discusses the news from a perspective left out of the mainstream media. Left Out is co-hosted by Bob Harper and Danny Sleator. Today's program is produced by Producer Hank. Listeners are invited to call the program at (412) 268-WRCT (9728), or to send email to bob@leftout.info.
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Happy New Year to our Left Out listeners.
A September, 2005 Fortune Magazine article by Clifton Leaf discusses the influence of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 on American universities. Briefly, the Bayh-Dole Act authorized universities to privatize the results of publicly funded research, leading to the creation of technology transfer offices and an increasing emphasis on research that is perceived to lead to a large pay-day in the relatively near future. Leaf's penetrating account places particular emphasis on the pharmaceutical industry, but the effects permeate American universitiies by turning them into amateur venture capitalists, and undermining the mission of the university. A related article from American Scientist Magazine analyzes the effects, both good and bad, of the Bayh-Dole Act.
The greatest benefactors of the Bayh-Dole Act appear to be the pharmaceutical companies, who are reaping enormous benefits from the privatization of public research. The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What To Do About It by Marcia Angell (Harvard professor, and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine) is a thorough expose of the pharmaceutical industry, and how it is exploiting the public for enormous profit.
The indispensable Keith Olbermann skewers Bush after his State of the Union address.
Two weeks ago The Decider decided to fire seven Federal prosecutors, replacing them with political hacks. One such prosecutor convicted Duke Cunningham of corruption, and was said to be on the trail of other White House cronies.
Now The Decision Maker has installed commisars at Federal Agencies, especially the EPA and OSHA, to ensure that they do not interfere with the ongoing Republican rape of America.
Truth Out
Common Dreams
Information Clearinghouse
Cursor
Tom Paine
The Independent
The Guardian
Consortium News