offscour.org

Note: I have similar named domain, offscoured.org (that redirects to offscour.net), that is hosting Miki Alex Manigault's commemorative page. I switched the sites awhile back.

Jan 27, 2023 | Click here to scroll down to updates & new video in mid Janurary 2023.

The domain name offscour.org is not meant to imply that I wish suffering for this man that I've monitored by watching his social media account & keeping screencaptures. The word "offscouring" is significant for me because it's a word that a counselor of mine brought up to me. He used the word as a verb and explained (something to the effect of) that it basically means "get rid of" and he associated the word with me in my circumstances, in that people have the tendency to just want to outcast me. It's partly a middle-aged man issue for me, and I'm alone, so people assume the worst. It's easier to shun me than understand me enough to give me benefit of doubt.

This man is in similar position. A person could consider the idea that he obviously didn't make a conscious decision to end up homeless in Florida and it could be argued that he made his choices that led up to his plight, but there could be a mental impairment that he's afflicted with that has interferred with him doing what would be best for him overall.

Not to mince words here but the underlying sociology in this man's case, and it's something more common than people (in general) care to admit, acknowledge, address, (or whatever) but this man is white (for intents & purposes here†) and although he was from middle-class family and educated (enough) to work in business field of stockbroking (for a undetermined period of time, but...) he ended up on the skids. To be blunt I will state the formal psychiatric term of "comorbidity" as it applies to him with his (verifiable) history of alcohol abuse and diagnoses of bipolar. The mental health system has the intent to prevent a person with a mental impairment (is what the Americans with Disabilities Act describes psychiatric conditions) from ending up homeless. († He's actually Italian & proud of that.)

I would like to point out here that I can attest that this man would say (& write) racist type remarks, for him it was more out of bitterness, & yeah there's a difference that's examplified in his case. There was a period of time when I was associating with him where he was living in a transitional housing (adult group home) facility that was primarily populated by young Black men who were freshly paroled. A white man who was really racist wouldn't attempt that under any circumstances. That may sound exaggerated (and is a point that could be hurtful to people of color) but there are white people who don't even interact with people of color the same way they do with whites. It's strange the way they will speak but they objectify people of color when they talk, is the way I'd describe it. Of course that characteristic is attributed to (projected onto) white people in general, or to be more clear from my perspective, attributed to white men in general. Then there's the (caste) of people who desire to reinforce the historical, imperialistic racial strife for whatever aberrant personal reason.

There are also the white people that are raised to be strictly non-racist (and of course human imperfection would produce varied results in the flawlessness of the value) but the aggravation & discontent that (all or most) people feel in their life they will take out on other people. Whether the "other people" are some designated group(s) that a person is (taught to be) prejudiced against or the other people are of their own family (a scapegoat) is another matter. White people can be cruel to each other (just as people of color can be, too) so there are the similarities that are of the human condition.

This man did take advantage of my generosity a few years back. He even coerced me into driving a car for him about twenty miles on the interstate when neither of us had a license. He was on probation for a dui and was stuck in my home state. We met in a recovery group (organization) which is traditionally confidential but that can be a problem, and my friendship with him serves as a good example since he was abusive in that way. One of his Facebook post even exemplifies that and even along the same lines of something he pulled on me. He used the n-word in a meeting that we went to together and it was one that I regularly attended. There was even a man there who was half Black (and he may have even talked about that in that group before too) but it was devastating to me because I do try to maintain a reputation of being considerate of others. I was raised to be non-racist and come to find out that was a value that was held sacred in my family's Quaker heritage. All too often we only hear about when it's the opposite and it's like that's the only way it's supposed to be, so everything is consistent in the world.

Anyway, I found him on social media but didn't contact him. I instead merely checked his page occasionally. He got married and then divorced from a woman; it was then I began taking screen captures of his posts and comments. He also posted a video of an incident with a skunk while he was homeless and it's there in the Gallery.

...ok, after the skunk video and the anti-sematic post he is back up & running with the pictures of women off the internet that he says he knows ...

There's also a 08:23 min video (below) of him feeding skunk(s) but it was dated Nov 28, 2020 & he posted it in Nov 2022, so I'm not certain when he actually made the video.

I wasn't sure what to do with the content. I didn't want to post it public but I figure it's worth saving and sharing for the cultural studies and mental & behavioral health aspect. I have a image gallery set up here; note: the page is using javascript to generate the image thumbnail gallery. (The browser back button is helpful with that page.) In brief: A majority of his posts were in the context of this charade of his that he has two women (with children) and he is a famous guitar player. These "women" have access to his account and so communicate to him through posts. Sometimes only like "Where are you? You're not answering your phone", but also he'd make a point to include the "background info", (e.g., they'd refer to themselves as "the mother of your children"). He would include names of popular guitarists that he'd be playing with in a studio, etc. (Sometimes just rants, too.) I didn't even attempt to copy any of the text so maybe I will optical character recognition scan them eventually.

I'd be the first to admit that this publication of this man's plight may not seem appropriate of me but this would be a good time for me to point out here that years ago my 14th Amendment, US Constitution right (of equal protection of law) was violated, as well as the Twelve Traditions in that I was singled out in an AA group & there was a culturally supported focus on me where a number of Members knew & some participated; but the collusion resulted in a bias motivated violent attack against me by another member of the group.

I had also experienced prior crimes against me, I was already a traumatized person and the resulting shunning that I felt caused me to go into a despondent ("depressed") state & ended up in the mental health system. I learned & participated and overall it's helped me immensely but the combination of the two disciplines is really what caused me to talk with this man in the first place. He then took advantage of me (most people do) but I don't wish him ill will really, & this isn't "retaliation" of mine to publicize this. I'm a social scientist but compassionate and there's really nothing I can do for him but I won't ignore him. He's still a human being.