Merged US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks'

[dann]

I am not always sure if #DEW or #HavanaSyndrome tweets are parodies or not.
If this one is, it's at least very consistent with the rest:

Another day we have to be slowly killed from the Geo engineering. Weather warfare and the directed energy weapons.
Don't forget about our pets.
This is Michael, he's a victim also.
@2myshop (Twitter/X, Dec 29, 2023)

Michael looks fine to me, but I'm not a vet.

 

[dann]

deleted

 

[dann]

Additional symptoms

Since post 2,099, we know that "puffiness under the eyes" is a symptom of 'Havana syndrome'.

A couple of new symptoms have been added to the list since then: stomach rumble and twitching muscles.

Other TIs have posted footage of their twitching muscles, claiming that it's a symptom of DEW attacks.
They tend to block me when I tweet about the most likely cause of twitching muscles: benign (!) fasciculation syndrome!

Perhaps not all explanations are proper. In my experience, it’s attempted behavioral modification through signals and (too overt and damaging) punishments: oval skin burns, bloody shapes in sclera while trying to make the eye move upon receiving a cue, telltale when you live it.
Targetedquestions (Twitter/X, Dec 30, 2023)

It may look dramatic, but it isn't, usually:

Yikes! A subconjunctival hemorrhage or a broken blood vessel on the white of the eye can look scary. Is it serious? Do you need need urgent care for it? In this week's eye health episode, we will talk about the following FAQ regarding subconjunctival hemorrhage:
- What causes it?
- Who will most likely get it?
- Treatment & Prognosis
Subconjunctival Hemorrhage | Broken blood vessel on eye | Causes & Treatment (Mommy Dear on YouTube, Oct 25, 2020 - 3:37 min.)

But since TIs tend to see any kind of ailment as sign of a 'Havana syndrome' attack, they aren't satisfied with any other explanations.
(By the way, in the specific case, Russia is assumed to be the perpetrator.)

Very recently somebody, not an actual TI but definitely TI adjacent, dissed doctors because they won't consider RF attacks (or the use of BCI = computer-brain interface) as the cause if somebody has the sniffles.
He has now blocked me, so I can't present you with a link to his tweet.

 

[dann]

'Syndrome' misc.

What do you think is the unexplained health anomalies known as "Havana Syndrome"?
Pulsed energy attacks 62%
Other medical conditions 16%
Other environmental issues 15%
No idea! 8%
(...)
Do you believe in a foreign adversary testing a new weapon?
Yes, not coincidental 61%
Probably, but not certain 17%
No, conspiracy theory 17%
No idea! 6%
(...)
What do you think about Dr. Manshamarami's piece "Havana Syndrome, Neurostrike, and Brain Wars"?
Thought-provoking and useful 79%
Scared me, now I can't sleep 14%
Spreading conspiracy theories 7%
Havana Syndrome, Neurostrike, and Brain Warfare (LinkedIn, Jan 8, 2024)

I assume that most of the participants in the polls are either TIs or at least TI-adjacent.

Heavy Psych/Spacerock/Doom Improv from my band. The first track off our full-length Havana Syndrome (Jharkhand Assembly - The Decree, MeFiMusic, Jan 9, 2024 - 4:58 min.)
I wonder why those rock bands never make use of the sound from the cricket recordings when they make songs called Havana Syndrome. Allusions to Cuban rhythms would also be an interesting touch.

* In 2016, U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba suffered brain damage from an unexplained illness known as the “Havana Syndrome.”
* In 2017, Cuban troops marched in a parade, presided by Raul Castro, chanting they would repeatedly shoot President Barack Obama in the head so many times they’d make a “hat out of bullets.”
Cuba and Iran Are Still State Sponsors of Terrorism (The Heritage Foundation, Jan 4, 2024)

Since it's The Heritage Foundation, it's the kind of reporting one might expect, but how on earth did they come up with the absurd idea that Cuban troops would chant about shooting Obama in the head? And why would they do so in 2017?

 

[dann]

Most current references to the 'syndrome' appear to be due to the film Leave the World Behind.
This new podcast is one example:

Real Life Ghost Stories is a podcast dedicated to real life paranormal experiences. We discuss hauntings, ghosts, death, aliens, psychology, skeptics and everything in between. We release episodes every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Our Wednesday and Friday episodes are dedicated to the real life ghost stories of our listeners!
#220 Havana Syndrome - Film Review: Leave the World Behind (2023 (Real Life Ghost Stories on Apple Podcasts, Jan 7, 2024 - 44 min.)

The main story is about the 'syndrome', but its jumping-off point is the film.

A new article about the film also mentions the 'syndrome' and actually taught me something that I should have known but didn't. In spite of the title, it didn't teach me anything about Obama. It taught me that H.G.Wells' novel The War of the Worlds was inspired by the history of British imperialism:

“The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years,” Wells wrote. “Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?”
Obama Flinches at His Own Legacy - A movie produced by the former president tries and fails to grasp the consequences of American empire (TheAmericanConservative, Jan 17, 2024)

Another article, not about the 'syndrome', includes more of the quotation from Wells:

We men, the creatures who inhabit this earth, must be to them [the Martians] at least as alien and lowly as are the monkeys and lemurs to us. […] And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and dodo, but upon its own inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?
What The War of the Worlds Had to Do with Tasmania (DailyJSTOR, Dec 8, 2018)

 

[Roger Ramjets]

Since it's The Heritage Foundation, it's the kind of reporting one might expect, but how on earth did they come up with the absurd idea that Cuban troops would chant about shooting Obama in the head? And why would they do so in 2017?

It was reported in the Miami Herald by someone by the name of Fabiola Santiago. I can find no verification or source other than this article.

However I did find this:-
Republican Group Under Fire for Email Featuring Obama Shot in Head

By Devin Dwyer October 31, 2011

A Halloween-themed email from the Loudoun County, Va., Republican Committee was swiftly condemned by conservative and liberal groups today for featuring an image of a ghoulish-looking President Obama with a bullet hole through his head.

So apparently the idea isn't so 'out there' for some people in the US - when it suits them.

 

[dann]

It was reported in the Miami Herald by someone by the name of Fabiola Santiago. I can find no verification or source other than this article.

Yes, the link in the quotation was to cubacenter.org, which linked to the Miami Herald, and then I found nothing else after that.

However I did find this:-
Republican Group Under Fire for Email Featuring Obama Shot in Head
So apparently the idea isn't so 'out there' for some people in the US - when it suits them.

12 years ago or so, I translated the subtitles from two documentaries into Danish, one was by Saul Landau, Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up, and the other one was by Bernie Dwyer. It was either The Day Diplomacy Died or Mission against Terror, but I no longer remember which one.
But one of those three documentaries ends with a scene in Havana where a Cuban who has pretended to be a dissident while working for the US-financed Radio y Televisión Martí in Miami says that they will broadcast whatever he tells them without doing any fact-checking. To prove it, he calls them on camera a little later his message is on the air from Miami.

 

[dann]

We’re starting the production of the video in three days. Going to absolutely link one engineer to a series of crimes that show his involvement with attacks associated with Havana Syndrome. One fact is standing out more than the rest.
“It’s not a foreign adversary behind the attacks.”
HaunticonHunter (X, Jan 21, 2024)

The tweet includes a short (10 sec.) video clip from 60 Minutes, but it seems to be from the episode in 2022:
"William Burns told us, 'One thing is already clear: After early disbelief, these injured Americans can no longer be doubted."

It is a dishonest way to present the 60 Minutes clip since the episode never gave any credence to the TI idea that they are being targeted in the USA by Americans or by "one engineer," as claimed in the tweet. In another tweet HaunticonHunter talks about the "family behind the orchestrated attacks." 60 Minutes claimed the exact opposite of the claim that “it’s not a foreign adversary behind the attacks.”

"Targeting Americans" rebroadcasts a look at how Americans working in Cuba and China have developed serious brain injuries as the result of attacks.
60 Minutes: Targeting Americans (IMDb)

 

[dann]

In post 2,119, I mentioned that Len Ber had presented the idea that elevated levels of "neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)" in 'syndrome'/AHI patients proved that the 'Havana Syndrome' wasn't caused by mass psychogenic illness.

I pointed out that it proved no such thing since the same pattern is seen in patients with exhaustion disorder (ED). I referred to this study: Biomarkers of brain injury in patients with stress-related exhaustion: A longitudinal study (ScienceDirect/Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 146, December 2022).

Now Len Ber is back again with his complaint, both on Robert Bartholomew's Twitter/X page and on his own.
I love the audacity of making up a new sciency-sounding term for 'Havana Syndrome' and then claiming that it is the correct one: "Havana Syndrome (a term grossly outdated, as it is correctly called NKBI - non-kinetic brain injury)".

He also accuses me of not reading the study:

You don't read the actual studies, don't you? Elevation was still within the normal range, unlike in concusion or NKBI.
Len Ber MD (X, Jan 28, 2024)

However,

"the NfL levels in our study had normalized after 7–12 years, the NfL levels in mild TBI were still significantly increased compared with controls after 5 years. (...) there is no permanent neurodegeneration in ED."
Len Ber confuses Exhaustion Disorder (ED) with TBI!
ED ≠ TBI.
DannSim (X, Jan 28, 2024)

Len Ber doesn't understand the study.
NfL:
"There was no significant difference in plasma levels of NfL between the ED group at follow-up and controls"
NKBI is a concept that Len Ber made up, so it won't be mentioned in an actual study!
DannSim (X, Jan 28, 2024)

GFAP:
"There were no significant differences in plasma levels of GFAP between the ED group at follow-up and the same group at baseline, nor between the ED group at follow-up and controls"
DannSim (X, Jan 28, 2024)

The PLASMA levels were within normal range, not the ELEVATION of the levels.
https://internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14231080#post14231080
DannSim (X, Jan 28, 2024)

 

[dann]

As if we didn't know already: It's not just for schoolgirls anymore!

Sweden appears to have had a 'syndrome' case last week:

Larm om gasutsläpp vid Säpos högkvarter – flera till sjukhus (SVT.se, Feb 23-24, 2024)
Gas-leak alarm at Säpo headquarters
Säpo (Wiki) is Sweden's secret service. Maybe people know about it from the TV series Agent Hamilton (Wiki).

Swedish intelligence headquarters hit by gas leak, seven people in hospital (newsrnd.com, Feb 23, 2024)
Hundreds evacuated after possible gas leak at Säpo headquarters (IScanInfo, Feb 23, 2024)
Gas leak alarm at Säpo (RadioSweden, Feb 23, 2023)

The idea that people at Säpo were the victims of a phosgene attack wasn't really consistent with the description of the chemical: Phosgene (Wikipedia)
For instance, you wouldn't expect phosgene to smell like gas: "its musty odor resembles that of freshly cut hay or grass."

However, this didn't stop right-wing media to proclaim that the Säpo agents had been harmed by actual combat gas:

Första världskriget kan ha kommit till Säpo när flera hundra personer tvingades evakuera efter att gaslarmet gick
Massevakuering på Säpo efter läckt stridsgas (FrihetsNytt (= 'Freedom News'), Feb 24, 2024)

WWI may have come to Säpo when several hundred people were forced to evacuate the buildings after gas alarm
Mass evacuation at Säpo after combat gas leak

Nor did it prevent a Swedish doctor from claiming that he could see 'no natural explanation' for what had happened at Säpo. It just had to be a case of sabotage:
Läkaren: Ser ingen naturlig förklaring – klart tanken går till sabotage (Aftonbladet)

By Monday, however, the last of the secret agents had been sent home from the hospital, and clearer heads dismissed the idea that the Swedish secret agents were the victims of a combat gas attack:

* Det är inte särskilt troligt att det var den giftiga stridsgasen fosgen som orsakade gaslarmet vid Säpos högkvarter i fredags.
* Det säger giftexperten Kai Knudsen på Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset.
* Enligt honom är gasen mycket ovanlig.
Experten avfärdar stridsgaslarmet på Säpo: ”Osannolikt” (Feb 26, 2024)

* It is very unlikely that the combat gas phosgene is what caused the gas warning at the Säpo headquarters last Friday
* So says toxicologist Kai Knudsen at Sahlgrenska University Hospital
* According to him, the gas is very unusual
Expert dismisses the combat gas alarm at Säpo

I suspect that this piece of news, which was released very soon after the incident, may have been what caused people at the Säpo headquarters to be on edge:
Sweden clears final hurdle in bid to join NATO after Hungary approves accession (CNN, Feb 26, 2024)

 

[dann]

It has been a year since the news broke that there was never any adversary with directed energy weapons attacking the brains of CIA agents and U.S. diplomatic staff. Later that same month, the DoD even stopped its attempts to reproduce those imaginary attacks by microwaving brains.

The ODNI report made it pretty clear that there had never been any brain-damaging DEW attacks:

As part of its review, the IC identified critical assumptions surrounding the initial AHIs reported in Cuba from 2016 to 2018, which framed the IC’s understanding of this phenomenon, but were not borne out by subsequent medical and technical analysis. In light of this and the evidence that points away from a foreign adversary, causal mechanism, or unique syndrome linked to AHIs, IC agencies assess that symptoms reported by US personnel were probably the result of factors that did not involve a foreign adversary, such as preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors. IC confidence in this explanation is bolstered by the fact that we identified medical, environmental, and social factors that plausibly can explain many AHIs reported by US officials.

However, many U.S. politicians just won't let the syndrome die. This piece of fiction is just too valuable for them and their politics:

“It’s been nearly eight years since the first documented (!) case of Havana Syndrome, but this mysterious (!) illness is causing pain and confusion today. We cannot let these victims slip away forgotten, we need to have discussions with the Department of Defense about the proper response and ways to prevent more incidents,” said Congressman Rick Crawford.
Wenstrup Introduces 'Havana Syndrome' Health Bill (Congressman Brad Wenstrup, Feb 7, 2024)

This is the very best way to cause "more incidents," which doesn't bother people like this and is also not the least bit "mysterious."

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

A quick Google indicates that the detection of phosgene gas at low levels is easily done. Vide: Selectively Light-up Detection of Phosgene with an Aggregation-Induced Emission-Based Fluorescent Sensor. I wonder if such a test was done . . . and what the results were.

 

[Orphia Nay]

[snip]

This is the very best way to cause "more incidents," which doesn't bother people like this and is also not the least bit "mysterious."

Well said, and good to see you back, dann!

 

[dann]

A quick Google indicates that the detection of phosgene gas at low levels is easily done. Vide: Selectively Light-up Detection of Phosgene with an Aggregation-Induced Emission-Based Fluorescent Sensor. I wonder if such a test was done . . . and what the results were.

It's hard to tell from what the media writes. The messaging from Säpo has been as inconsistent and confusing as reports about the 'Havana syndrome' six years ago.
Säpochefen efter gaslarmet: ”Helt trygg” (TV4.se, Feb 29, 2024)

Google's English translation of the short article is fine. The media is clearly confused by the reports from Säpo.

 

[dann]

This case, a 50-year-old woman, is obviously a TI/EHS sufferer even though the terms are never used in the report:

we report a case of a patient with self-reported Havana syndrome, highlighting the associated treatment challenges.
(...)
She reported 2 years of persistent somatic symptoms of vertigo, headache, and palpitations, which she attributed to Havana syndrome. She recalled that symptoms began in the basement of her old home, due in part to electrical waves from powerlines.
(...)
we obtained collateral reports from online acquaintances who supported the patient’s self-diagnosis of Havana syndrome and claimed to have similar symptoms.
(...)
As Havana syndrome continues to remain elusive in its origin, clinicians must recognize that it may not be limited to diplomats and could manifest in patients vulnerable to delusions or paranoia, exacerbated by online social contagion. Although we cannot definitively attribute our patient’s experience to delusions or organic pathology, patients reporting somatic symptoms may face unique challenges if their beliefs hinder medical treatment, as observed in this case.
Havana Syndrome: Social Contagion or Mass Psychogenic Illness? (Psychiatrist.com Mar 7, 2024)

I don't understand why the title of the report seems to distinguish between MPI and social contagion.

A short thread on Twitter/X (Mar 8-9, 2024)

 

[Orphia Nay]

This case, a 50-year-old woman, is obviously a TI/EHS sufferer even though the terms are never used in the report:



I don't understand why the title of the report seems to distinguish between MPI and social contagion.

Sad that there is apparently nothing could be done to treat her delusions.

 

[gabeygoat]

This case, a 50-year-old woman, is obviously a TI/EHS sufferer even though the terms are never used in the report:



I don't understand why the title of the report seems to distinguish between MPI and social contagion.

A short thread on Twitter/X (Mar 8-9, 2024)

I was wondering the same thing. Odd

 

[dann]

Sad that there is apparently nothing could be done to treat her delusions.

Particularly because it prevented her from receiving the treatment that she was there to get:

A 50-year-old woman with no relevant psychiatric history was admitted to the emergency department due to a lower extremity laceration injury from a motor vehicle accident. (...) Ultimately, she refused surgical closure and was subsequently discharged.

I assume that they are talking about this kind of surgical closure and not about a lobotomy!

 

[dann]

I have mentioned Simon Wessely favorably a couple of times in the thread, most recently in December '23 in post 2,112.

However, a recent article describes how Wessely 30 years ago claimed that ME/CFS was not a physiological disease:

For centuries, doctors have been readier to classify women’s illnesses as hysterical or psychosomatic than they have men’s. ME/CFS, like long Covid, hits women harder, so, the thinking goes, it must be all in the mind.

Freedom of information requests to the National Archives show how the biopsychosocial model became embedded in research practice and government policy. The minutes of a meeting on government benefits policy in 1993 give a sense of the position of the psychiatrist Simon Wessely at the time. As summarised in the minutes, he told the meeting that ME/CFS is “not a neurological disorder”. He reportedly claimed that apparently severe cases were likely to result from either a “misdiagnosed psychiatric disorder or poor illness management”, while many cases were “iatrogenic”: caused by medical examination or treatment. His views were apparently that “the worst thing to do is to tell them to rest”, “exercise is good for these patients”, “most cases can be expected to improve with time” and, perhaps most shockingly, “benefits can often make patients worse”.

Every one of these claims now appears to be without foundation. But they became the basis of the dominant approach in this country to attempting to treat ME/CFS. The toll of patient suffering is hard to imagine.
‘You don’t want to get better’: the outdated treatment of ME/CFS patients is a national scandal (The Guardian, Mar 12, 2024)

It stresses that physiological symptoms or complaints should not be diagnosed as MPI unless doctors are 100% sure that no physiological damage is present in the patients. As we have seen in the COVID-19 thread in recent months, some people are eager to dismiss ME/CFS and Long Covid as "mental illnesses" even after they were presented with documentation showing that blood tests can reveal if patients have Long Covid:
https://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14241366#post14241366
https://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14243674#post14243674
https://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14243862#post14243862
https://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14240690#post14240690
or CFS:
https://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=14238312#post14238312
It is still a favourite among C19 minimizers.

By the way, I noticed that my post 2,112 about Wessely referred to "malicious intent" when it should have been malicious incidents. I don't know if I myself or the spell checker caused the error.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Thank goodness we can finally put this issue to rest!

5-year study finds no brain abnormalities in 'Havana Syndrome' patients

An actual paper here:

Neuroimaging Findings in US Government Personnel and Their Family Members Involved in Anomalous Health Incidents

If only.