Reviews

Abstract

The title, Stations of the Cross, is a play on the critical religious tension at the heart of the book. The Catholic ritual of meditation on the stages of Christ's harrowing passion can be translated into a reflection on social suffering and solidarity, for Paul Apostolidis a fertile symbol of the radical potential of the Christian message perverted by radio stations broadcasting right-wing Christian programmes. Apostolidis's investigation draws on a wide range of Frankfurt School theory, taking its most direct theoretical impetus from the broken promise of Theodor W. Adorno's uncompleted 1943 study of an American proto-fascistic Christian radio agitator. This recently republished study, The Psychological Technique of Martin Luther Thomas ' Radio Addresses (Adorno, 2000b), combined Adorno's simultaneously developing theories of the culture industry and authoritarianism.Apostolidis seeks to refine Adorno's model through its application to more recent -and much more mainstream -evangelical Christian culture, specifically Focus on the Family, the eponymous radio flagship of a big American religious organization. The radio show is presented by an educational psychologist, Dr James Dobson, who became a public figure in the 1970s in the wake of his 3-million copy best-seller, Dare to Discipline (Dobson, 1970). With its Christian critique of the permissive counter-culture, this text was an early proponent of the 'traditional family values' still beloved of authoritarian populists of all political shades today. Dobson is not himself a preacher or a politician (bar a little dabbling), but popular evangelicals and right-wing ideologues guest regularly on his show. He served on advisory committees for Ronald Reagan, and also had the ear of George Bush Senior.Apostolidis's study revolves round a nice typology of Dobson's cronies, reproducing something of the character of Adorno's shrewdly exaggerated sketches of proto-fascistic psychological types. Most often, Dobson entertains 'compassionate professionals' like himself. These hearts of gold assume a beguiling mantle of scientific and moral confidence in overauthoritative examinations of various socialpsychological issues of deep concern to beleaguered American parents. Their broadcasts function as an unconscious parody of Freudian-Marxist critical theory, turning a concern with the family's role as a mediator between psyche and society to conformist ends in a highly pernicious sort of (sub) Freudian-Conservatism. One

Comment on “Are Vibrationally Excited Molecules a Clue for the O3 Deficit Problem and HOx Dilemma in the Middle Atmosphere?”

“…O 3 + h ν → O + O + O 2 ( v ‘ ‘) [73 km] 9.75 × 10 -4 /s O 3 + h ν → O( 1 D) + O 2 ( v ) [73 km] 7.35 × 10 -3 /s OH( v ‘) + O 3 → HO 2 ( v ) + O 2 1.70 × 10 -11 OH( v ‘) + O 3 → H + O 2 + O 2 2.24 × 10 -11 OH( v ‘) + M → OH + M 2.43 × 10 -11 HO 2 ( v ) + O 3 → OH + 2O 2 2.00 × 10 -14 1351. HO 2 ( v ) + M → HO 2 + M 2.43 × 10 -11 OH( v ‘) + O 2 ( v ‘ ‘) → H + O + O 2 8.00 × 10 -11 O 2 ( v ‘ ‘) + O 2 ( v ) → O 3 + O 8.00 × 10 -12 O 2 ( v ‘ ‘) + O 2 → O 2 ( v ) + O 2 3.00 × 10 -13 O 2 ( v ) + O 2 → 2O 2 4.00 × 10 -15 a Base photolysis rates from Connell . O 2 relaxation rates estimated from values summarized in Slanger and Copeland …”

“…Rather than descending into the complexities of further analysis, we have included the proposed mechanism modifications into box model simulations of the local photochemistry taken from outputs of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 2-D diurnally varying model of the atmosphere. 18 This method is the simple and sure way to examine effects. The photolysis rates, kinetics rate constants, 19 species concentrations, and temperature are taken from the 2-D model output, and additional excited-state reactions are added.…”

“…Rather than descending into the complexities of further analysis, we have included the proposed mechanism modifications into box model simulations of the local photochemistry taken from outputs of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 2-D diurnally varying model of the atmosphere …”

“… a Base photolysis rates from Connell . O 2 relaxation rates estimated from values summarized in Slanger and Copeland …”