johnmay.org

Note: This site has existed since April 2023 & updated July 05, 2023. It's now "archived", as of April 2024. (So John completed his year. How great is that?!) Anyway, the original page follows...

Click here to view the page's cover image. OH! I forgot ... this dumbass, John May, was probably one of the fuck heads that voted that coroner, Monica Broncucia-Jordan, back into office. So there's that too. It's all about virtue signaling with these neo-conservatives. I have no idea why the libraries would let this man read to kids when he's dressed up in his drag queen outfits, but they did. (I was able to reach some of the local libraries in his area & inform the staff of his real name. He uses a different persona when he dresses up & uses some different names to coincide with his fantasy. They all appreciated the info & a couple of them said that they knew he was older than his ID said but didn't want to hurt his feelings so they didn't relay their suspicions to him.)

Oh! guess who popped up! (I'm honored! Nah, seriously! But anyways...)
No (I usually begin in these), I'm not John May ( ⇽ I usually link to a Facebook profile there) ... nor do I want to be him. He friended me on social media & I was reluctant since it's been my experience that people known to me will connect on Facebook and will bombard me with (usually) extreme right-wing (a.k.a. neoliberalism) propaganda. I'm not in complete disagreement with all of the conservative platform; I'm a sociologist, not a socialist, as my own father associates the terms. The issue gets to be that I'm expected to be in complete agreement or else maybe I should just learn how to urban camp, or what-the-fuck-ever. When I get bombarded with images of firearms it's irritating to me because it's subtle threat of violence toward me for no reason other than I don't completely agree with (what amounts to) extremists ... ⇽ & that is a vague term too, as most are that are often used in the political arena anymore.

I realized that the imagery of firearms could be considered obscene† since, like sexual imagery, there exists an underlying possible danger. Whether the danger truly exists, or if it's directed at me or not, is ambiguous and the uncertainty of that becomes an aspect of the threat (that seems like a redundant statement but I wanted to include it, nevertheless). I suppose it's the care-less-ness is what is irresponsible and frightning. Vigilantism is a big problem since it can escalate into anarchy. There was (is) the adage: "don't show it unless you plan to use it" which should apply to photographs as well. Merely having the mindset (desire) to be ready & willing to kill another human isn't tough or strong since there's underlying fear in that thinking that isn't recognized; so there's irrationality present. (Like I mentioned though, that topic isn't really relevant here so I'll leave that there for now.)

I also realized that something that becomes very irritating is when you know that somebody is deliberately trying to annoy you. Of course they'd play it off like it's all in your mind. People can make a point to be focused on you to coerce you to react in some way that could be misconstrued as justification of some stigma or stereotype. Not long ago I was walking through a grocery store parking lot and had some young white dude following me in his SUV and video recording me. Seriously! I was all "look at you ... you don't have anything better to do? Are you stupid, or what?". (Ok, it was because I yelled at some other young doofus that honked at me for absolutely no reason.) Young men think it's fun to torment an old man and that is what's frightening because how far will they push it(?) is the question.

This is a good place to segue into a subject that I'm currently studying in my ongoing social science "course" & that is language ... but doesn't mean profanity or foreign tongue in this context. I had a therapist (no, I ain't ashamed of referring to him as that ... he held a masters degree in social work from a very local & very prestigious college), but the last time I spoke with him it was a spontaneous informal meeting and he explained that some people will purposely use condescending tone & wording and it's to spur jealousy ⇽ and that word has even been culturally appropriated† to usually only indicate sexual component (kind of an innuendo). He pointed out to me that even within the "enlightened" fields of psychology & psychiatry there's the use of the word "transference" which is (often) associated with sexual attraction (e.g. believing a therapist or psychiatrist is attracted to the client/patient) but could also be synonymous with the word "projecting" or "attributing". The transference could actually just be an idea that a client/patient shared a similar background as the therapist/psychiatrist of being accepted and encouraged when in truth the client/patient had life experiences that contradicted that narrative. The other point is that in the past there were many words that were often used as euphemism and so were no longer available in average speech and obscene falls into that category. There are better examples, but the point is that an average man's ability to communicate was oppressed in the process. I can mention here that my therapist had a speech impediment himself (he stammered) but in his chosen career he was able to compensate because he had a jovial nature and so he wasn't intimidating. (My issue is that I can articulate myself well when I'm exited and raise my voice but of course people will exaggerate a reaction of fear of me to stigmatize me as dangerous.)

I think in this particular case (with Mr. May) is the worst of the bad deeds is some tax evasion due to a zoning ... uh, misunderstanding with his business, but it's not something that he made any point to attempt to conceal. There is the associated fact too that Mr. May provided a neighbor of his with employment who would otherwise be unemployable due to his (admitted) brain damage. Along these lines I can also bring up that the neighborhood (and suburban city) where we all lived there was a history of violence and tragedies that wouldn't be expected by someone unfamiliar with the time period and locality. I'm certain that there was/is an unusual high mortality rate in regards to the people of the later boomer and X-generation in our area, but it's quite possible it's still average of what it is nationwide.

One of my closest childhood friends has already passed and he understood much of what I bring up here. He once talked to me about the fact that even though him, myself & another friend of ours were all above average intelligence we weren't able to finish high school. A person might assume that we lacked ambition or were irresponsible or what-have-you but (as he pointed out) we weren't accepted socially since we were expected to accept a role of inferiority to our peers that were from more affluent families. We were all under eighteen so our social position wasn't our fault. I was physically abused by a male teacher that stood a foot taller than me when I was a sophmore (& no, that wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to me) and so I began to drop out. My father expected me to go on to college or whatever but (as another councelor pointed out to me) I was already set on a path to use skilled manual labor to make a living. I was working in construction before I even turned eighteen. I got my GED and my father wasn't happy with me and faulted me. I had already went from being an exceptional, goal orientated student to a "dropout" and I went to work full time in a dangerous and physically demanding occupation. I ended up giving up on that prospect and joined the military & here I am today.

I suppose the tax evasion bit was a little strong but it's not exactly bad company throughout :) ... but a man I admire is known to be a tax protester aside from his main gig of evangelist and (what interests me) a Creationalist scientist. (Ever heard of one of those? Me niether until some man in a church group called me out on my belief in evolution theory a couple decades ago.) I was given a video of his to watch but it was just one of a series and it wasn't about the theory of evolution specifically. He is a "Young Earth creationist" and the video lecture covered the formation of Earth that's different than what is accepted scientific theory. I was still skeptical myself but he started talking about the moon landing(s) and he wasn't denying the factuality but described the environment that the astronauts experienced in detail that not everyone understands. (He talked about the amount of dust there.) He also explained where the water precipitation originated to cause the great deluge (the Earth was encompassed in a water vapor firmanent that collasped due to external catastrophic event). Along those lines there's an alternate perspective of what's thought of as cavemen where the people were in the process of rebuilding after catastrophie. (There's also another theory regarding some of the pyramids where a scientist is convinced that they discovered how to generate electricity by concentrating seismic activity from the Earth.) That all sounds farfetched and even laughable but in light of Christianity (which a majority of conservative right-winger types profess to adhear to) there needs to taken into consideration that the Bible references a writing (Book of Enoch) but it isn't included in biblical canon even though one of the qualifications that was used to determine authenticity was if another accepted writing references a manuscript. The contents of that writing (as it's been presented in this time) actually explains the catastrophie period in more detail. It describes what could be interpreted as a more technologically advanced culture (still in rudimentary stage) but also brutal to be dangerous for an average human man. All the advancement became a moot point due to the deluge but humankind had a fresh start as the result.

In my community online that I often interact with (the "trauma informed" is one description that's used) I don't mention anything faith related, of course, the conversations are necessarily kept secular.

Scroll down to some of my work.

The following is remnants of the webpage that I used as a template that I just left in.

(I will reformat and edit this later, I think.)

In an attempt to establish credibility for referring to myself as a "social scientist" I figured that I'd offer an introduction. Oh, you thought that I'd try to use the word "sociologist", didn't you! - oh, haha - so I'd get the "evils of socialism" rant and I'd then stand accused of being a communist ... of course I'm not, but it'd put me on the defensive ... it's like fighting your way out of a paper bag, but what's so hard about that? The question is how you got into the paper bag in the first place; by being cordial & accommodating & harmonious, but of course that reveals a fear of rejection, banishment. Reveal a weakness or vulnerability then sadistic people will have a way to exploit & extort, and have a source of entertainment. I am an autodidact and have some relatable formal education, but also I have been informally, but specifically & purposefully, educated in regards to the application of the guarantee of equal protection of law that the U.S. Constitution Fourteenth Amendment (is meant to) provide.

Here's an introduction to my take on sociology (a rough outline)

(To exert control over others ⇾ oppression ⇾ benefaction ⇾ oppression ⇾ benefaction ⇾ isolation ⇾ dependency ⇾ subjugation)

• Humans' needs: subsistence, clothing, shelter (⇽ and physical safety is implied therein with the latter).
• Anyone or entity that has control of access to those needs can subjugate another ⇾ render them subservient.
• With a group the oppressor can provide freely to one and restrict or deny another, which creates strife (safety becomes arbitrary).
• A lackey may supplicant the oppressor for relief, sympathize with & abet the oppressor ... etc. (⇾ brainwash, cults, etc.)
• Oh! & of course the ol' tried & true collective punishment (or threat of, to intimidate) can be used by the oppressor (or lackey†). (†In my scapegoated.net situation I had tried to convince my assigned VA housing case manager that he could help by getting a HUD re-inspection for my unit to pressure the mngr into repairing the opener for the handicap accessibility door & he said "I have twenty-five other vets in there that would have to move if it fails inspection." ... I'm serious! The man actually said that. He wasn't a vet, though, so his point was to concede to culture. Don't make waves, type thing.)
• There is also the effect of language used in communication. An oppressive person or entity can make a point to not use profanity at all in order to exert a superiority affectation. Someone can be derisive, belittling, patronizing, etc. by not necessarily vulgar words. Although a person "shouldn't let someone get to them" there is the underlying intention to hurt feelings & that's hurtful since there is a malicious purpose. There is implication that the receiver deserves to be berated. Sound does affect humans on a physical level too by the way our hearing works, is the point.
• The same could be said of human vision too since humans process colors from our retina (cone cells) that we use for color perception. We have trichromatic color vision, with significant response to red, green and blue light stimuli. So there is unavoidable mental process we all experience regarding what we see that is based on light waves that penetrate our eyes.

Other current relevant behavioral/mental health advocacy information

• War Neuroses : Netley Hospital, 1917 - Dr. Arthur Hurst
• Dr Jay Joseph's work for information regarding theories of genetic (biological) causation of emotional/behavioral disorders
• The long-term costs of traumatic stress: intertwined physical and psychological consequences | PubMed Central
• There Are No Rules About Psychiatric Diagnosis - And That Must End! Paula J. Caplan, NARPA 9/4/14
• Dr. Pat Bracken - Irish psychiatrist & philosopher: Post-Psychiatry, PTSD & Community Development | madnessradio.net | first aired: 05-09-2007
• Dr. Lucy Johnstone's article on the Power Threat Meaning Framework conceptual system incorporating social, psychological, and biological factors as an alternative to functional psychiatric diagnosis.

Brief list of popular related sociology studies & experiments

• Asch conformity experiments (a favorite of mine & not often referenced)
• Milgram experiment
• Stanford Prison Experiment (I've seen someone denying it ever took place & that's cruel!)
• The Third Wave high school history class experiment
• Rosenhan experiment pseudopatients feign psychosis to study validity of psych diagnoses

other sites of mine:

(Links open in new tab or window.)

• georgekerber.com | Website about a fatal apt fire and numerous code violations by a property management corporation. (A local current event that revealed issues.)
• banect.website | advocating for banishment of ECT & presenting argument of providers' coercion tactics
• Article & my commentary of a current & controversial subject | offscoured.net
• advocacy webpage I've published for Elijah McClain (The coroner participated in a collusion to cover-up the crime committed by the police & should be charged!)
• realnextdoor.org an advocacy webpage regarding local laws & ordinances that protect renters
• scapegoated.net video evidence of a property management company's ongoing ADA violation (old but informative)
• johnlaratta.net | Website about my 2015 civil court case where a real estate broker perjured himself
• terryhildebrandt.net | local man who promotes labeling & scapegoating the "mentally ill" (I have mayorhancock.net now)
• justentitled.net | Website about A young man who made an ignorant & disrespectful comment when he shouldn't have
• presentation of a Nextdoor post digressing to discussing violence but it was about lost elderly with tardive dyskinesia in May 2022
• freequaker.org - My website presenting some of my family genealogy work
• a 3 mins 18 secs audio clip of my testimony at my state's Senate Committee Session Hearing regarding an Extreme Risk Protection Order bill
• workbook.website | collection of older presentations
• & my Twitter