Merged US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks'

[dann]

Good news, finally! Problem solved, and all it took was a little Chinese ingenuity! Guangzhou tackles noise problems in public parks with new rules (GB Times, Beijing, Oct. 10, 2014)

 

[dann]

China’s response:

China has always protected the safety of foreign diplomatic missions in China, including that of the U.S. diplomatic staff, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Regarding what was said in those reports, China has carried out an investigation seriously and given an initial feedback to the U.S. By far, we have found no reason or clue for what was reported by the U.S.
China’s Foreign Ministry (May 24, 2018)

(No, I don’t understand it either. Got the translation here: Is China Really Targeting US Diplomats With a 'Sonic Attack'?, The Diplomat, May 25, 2018)

The Chinese state-owned Global Times newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday that the investigation into the US government employee’s condition should be “objective.”
The newspaper said it was “inappropriate” for the US to connect the incident with what American diplomats underwent in Cuba.
“It is completely unthinkable for there to be medical attacks launched against foreigners, particularly diplomats, in China,” the Global Times said.
Innovation: China says no reason found for US staffer’s sonic condition in mysterious incident (The Mercury, Technology section, May, 26, 2018)

 

[dann]

Professor of ultrasonics and underwater acoustics:

“In the Cuban situation, there was a lot more hype than there was evidence … In Cuba, I don’t think the evidence was there for a sonic attack, and less so in China,” Timothy G. Leighton, Ph.D., a professor of ultrasonics and underwater acoustics at the University of Southampton tells Inverse. “I’m not saying it wasn’t; you’ve just got a heck of a long journey to take before you reach that conclusion.”
China Sonic Attacks Are 'More Hype Than Evidence', Says Acoustics Scientist (Inverse, May 24, 2018)

 

[dann]

This link to the article More Consulate Workers Evacuated After Mystery Illness Strikes Americans In China (HuffPost, Jun. 7, 2018) appeared in another thread today.

The State Department evacuated at least two more Americans from the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China, on Wednesday after they began showing signs of a mysterious illness, The New York Times reported.
(HuffPost)

ETA:
US screens more American consulate staff in China over mystery health issues (South China Morning Post, Jun. 8, 2018)
US embassy in new warning over 'unexplained' illnesses in Guangzhou, China (The Independent, Jun. 8, 2018)
U.S. pulls more staff from China over mysterious health issues (CBS News, Jun. 7, 2018)

 

[dann]

The Guangzhou story has reached The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

 

[dann]

No news:

Cuba's foreign ministry said Sunday that it has not uncovered the cause of mysterious health symptoms that affected an official of the US embassy in Havana last month and characterized the United States' decision to withdraw personnel posted there as "politically motivated."
Cuba says it can't uncover cause of 'sonic attacks' on US diplomats (CNN, Jun. 11, 2018)

MINREX: EE.UU. acepta que desconoce explicación, naturaleza y causa de afecciones de salud reportadas por sus diplomáticos - Declaración del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba (Granma, Jun. 10, 2018)

The new illnesses in China come just weeks after American officials reported finding their first case here in Guangzhou, where a consulate employee got sick. Some American officials in this city live in apartment complexes filled with other foreigners and wealthy Chinese; that is where the ailing employees were subjected to unusual noises.
But it remains unclear whether the illnesses are the result of attacks at all.
(…)
Among those who reported symptoms was Mr. Lenzi. In an email sent to the entire staff of the consulate, he complained that the first employee was evacuated in April, but that no one was told of the health concerns until a month later — after doctors in the United States had found evidence of brain trauma. The initial health alert, he said in an interview, suggested it was an isolated case. “They knew full well it wasn’t,” he said.
(…)
Even if people are evacuated for further tests, that does not necessarily mean that they have suffered injuries or illnesses, the officials emphasized. Only 25 percent of those evacuated from Cuba, for example, were later found to have health problems.
U.S. Diplomats evacuated in China as Medical Mystery Grows (NY Times, Jun. 6, 2018)

This could indicate that they had been trying to keep a lid on the whole thing in order to avoid (more) mass hysteria/mass psychogenic illness: "no one was told of the health concerns until a month later" (...) The initial health alert (..) suggested it was an isolated case."

What's happening to US diplomats in Cuba and China? Here are 4 theories (Vox, Jun. 8, 2018)

On June 8, Vox followed up with a report which included speculation that mass hysteria could be to blame: "And for mass hysteria, it would mean other US diplomats in China feared so much about what happened to their colleagues that they’ve effectively worried themselves sick. It’s unclear if victims told each other what they were experiencing, and if that made others feel that they had similar symptoms."
Embassy attack accusaions in Cuba (and now China): Reactions 2 (Wikipedia)

 

[dann]

A couple more about the two very different ways that the USA responds the cases in China and Cuba:

"Until they are certain of the cause, it seems premature to make accusations," said Bonnie Glaser, a China expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I don't think the US is calling it an 'attack'."
It is in stark contrast to the US handling of the Cuba case, when the State Department lashed out at Havana for failing to protect its diplomats.
Washington expelled 15 Cuban diplomats, arguing the authoritarian state must have either carried out the assaults or known who was behind them. President Donald Trump said he held Cuba responsible, although Havana denied any involvement.
There are clear reasons for the US to avoid rocking the boat so readily this time.
As a rising superpower, Beijing possesses significantly greater clout than impoverished Havana, with the cases coming at a precarious moment in US-China relations.
First Cuba, Then China. Fear Of Mystery Weapon As US Diplomats Fall Ill (NDTV, Jun. 9, 2018)

Cuba said in a statement released by its Foreign Ministry that U.S. officials reported on May 29 that a female embassy official had reported experiencing “health symptoms” after hearing the sounds in her home two days earlier.
Cuba said it sent investigators to the home who found no potential source of a sound and were not granted access to the official.
U.S. officials said Friday that they had pulled two workers from Cuba and were testing them for possible brain injury. There was no immediate explanation of why the Cuban statement only referred to one official.
Cuba releases details of undefined ’sounds incident’ causing U.S. diplomat’s ’health symptoms’ (Japan Times/AP, Jun. 11, 2018)

 

[Drewbot]

Shouldn't this be under the Mass Hysteria thread?

 

[dann]

My initial thread title was Alien Attack? Mass Hysteria? Conspiracy?, but it was changed when two threads were merged. Mine and Sherkeu's.
A shame, in my opinion, since it turned out to be two out of three.
It's probably one of very few cases where a country tries to fuel mass psychogenic illness in its own population. I can imagine that it has been tried in times of war in the enemy's population, but I don't know of any cases.

 

[dann]

More Mystery: US pulls two more from Cuba amid puzzling health cases now affecting China (Ars Technica, Jun. 11, 2018)

The Ars Technica article refers and links to the article by Sergio Della Sala and Roberto Cuballi already mentioned in post 412.

In conclusion, there is no evidence that the people assessed present with any cognitive deficit (to be linked or not with their stay in Cuba). Subjective cognitive symptoms cannot be supported by the reported data. There is no “new syndrome” to contemplate. Hence, the search for its cause is moot.
(…)
The condition suffered by the US diplomats in Cuba has been labelled “mysterious” (Rubin, 2018). The real mystery though is how such a poor neuropsychogical report could have passed the scrutiny of expert reviewers in a first class outlet.
Alleged “sonic attack” supported by poor neuropsychology (Cortex, Vol. 103, June 2018, p. 387-388)

 

[dann]

Alien Attack? Mass Hysteria? Conspiracy?

The only thing researchers have been able to determine is that those afflicted seem to have damage that resembles concussive brain injury.
That is terrifying and bizarre. Some previously unknown environmental condition, terrorists or space aliens, for that matter, seem as likely an explanation as an international conspiracy.
Let’s Talk about This Cuban-Russian-Chines Conspiracy - The oddest diplomatic story in ages shows our penchant for mindless demonization (Rolling Stone, June 11, 2018)

The first sentence should have been:

The only thing researchers have been able to determine is that some, a small minority, of those afflicted seem to have damage that resembles concussive brain injury.

 

[dann]

Another U.S. Embassy worker stationed in Havana has been affected by a mysterious health ailment that has affected at least two dozen other diplomatic workers and family members in Cuba since late 2016, the State Department said this week.
The individual, whose symptoms were medically confirmed by the State Department, was one of two government workers evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Havana earlier this month to be screened for possible brain injuries, which the State Department believes are linked to “specific attacks” on its workers and their families. The other worker is still being evaluated
A Mystery illness is still affecting diplomats in Cuba and China (PBS News Hour, June 22, 2018)

WASHINGTON -- Medical tests have confirmed that one additional U.S. Embassy worker has been affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba, the State Department said, bringing the total number to 25. The new "medically confirmed" worker is one of two who were recently evacuated from Cuba after reporting symptoms.
1 more U.S. worker in Cuba has "confirmed" mystery illness (CBS News/AP, June 22, 2018)

Heather Nauert
Spokesperson
Department Press Briefing
Washington, DC
June 21, 2018

On June 21st, following a comprehensive medical evaluation, one U.S. diplomat working at the U.S. Embassy Havana was medically confirmed to have experienced health effects similar to those that were reported by members of the U.S. Havana diplomatic community. This is the first medically confirmed case in Havana since August of 2017. The number of Americans now affected is 25. Previously, that number was 24; it is now 25. The health and well-being of our personnel remains our top priority here at the State Department. The investigation into the origin of these symptoms continues, and it is an interagency effort.
Department Press Briefing - June 21, 2018 (U.S. Department of State)

 

[dann]

The theme of this thread has been picked up in a thread in the Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology forum:
Mystery illness in US consulate due to non-ionizing radiation?.
PartSkeptic, who started the thread, seems to suffer from a case of mass psychogenic illness (the ems hypersensitivity variation) and thinks that the alleged attacks on U.S. 'diplomats' in Havana and Guangzhou confirm his own ideas, which kind of puts the whole thing into perspective!


PS I’m not 100% sure, but I think I overlooked this one at the time and only noticed it when it was mentioned by PartSkeptic in the other thread mentioned above:
“Sonic Weapon Attacks” on U.S. Embassy Don’t Add Up—for Anyone
Cuban scientists and a new American report both shoot down a list of bizarre theories (Scientific American, Feb. 16,2018)

 

[dann]

Three new articles.

The United States termed the Cuba event a "health attack," and it has now issued two separate health warnings to Americans in China. Anyone experiencing "any unusual, unexplained physical symptoms or events, auditory or sensory phenomena, or other health concerns," the State Department said, should seek medical care, urging Americans to be on guard against symptoms including "dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, fatigue, cognitive issues, visual problems, ear complaints and hearing loss, and difficulty sleeping."
Those were no mere ‘health attacks’ on U.S. staffers in Cuba — and now China (Miami Herald, June 25, 2018)

I'm considering a forum poll to determine how many of us have experienced any of the symptoms mentioned above!

Even under the best of circumstances governments may manipulate public perceptions of threats. But in the current political environment, with an administration that has shown disdain for science and the scientific method, leaving key science adviser positions unfilled – and a president who once described climate change as a Chinese hoax and vaccination as causing autism – the American public should be wary of what this administration says about these incidents, who perpetrated them, and why.
Sonic attacks: How a medical mystery can sow distrust in foreign governments (The Conversation, June 27, 2018)

During a hearing early this year into the events in Cuba, Senator Marco Rubio, chairman of the foreign relations subcommittee that covers events in the Western Hemisphere, asked State Department officials whether the government was aware of any technology that was capable of launching the alleged attacks in Havana.
“If someone in the U.S. government says, ‘We want to cause these symptoms in people,’ that technology doesn’t exist,” Rubio said. “We don’t know of that technology. Is that accurate? We are not aware of a technology that does this? We’ve never seen a technology anywhere in the world that does this to people?”
“That’s my understanding, senator,” Todd Brown replied. “When going to the subject matter experts both in government and outside government, we have not seen this.”
Attacks Abroad, and What We Don’t Know (Weekly Standard, June 29, 2018)

 

[dann]

Hysterical crickets

I almost forgot this one, which would have been a pity since it really stands out. Many other articles simply rehash what they've found online. However, this guy, Richard Stone, actually interviewed people employed at the U.S. embassy in Havana. It's an eyeopener!

In April 2017, the embassy clued in all members of its diplomatic corps and advised people to sleep in the middle of a room, away from windows.
"Everybody was in a frenzy about it," says a second U.S. diplomat who was stationed in Havana at the time with young children. "We had a big window in the front of the house. It was a horrible feeling. We just thought, ‘Oh my God, we're in harm's way,’" she says. "You start to feel paranoid."
(...)
The Department of State dispatched Hoffer and University of Miami physical therapist James Buskirk to Havana in April 2017 to perform tests on several dozen of the remaining personnel. "A lot of people at the embassy wanted reassurance they weren't affected," Buskirk says. None had experienced symptoms, and they all scored normally on the tests.
Sonic attack or mass paranoia? New evidence stokes debate over diplomats’ mysterious illness (Sciencemag.org, June 20, 2018)

And where other articles have been very eager to dismiss the cricket hypothesis, Richard Stone writes this:

Other researchers and physicians maintain that mass psychogenic illness could explain some, if not all, of the symptoms. A panel of Cuban scientists that evaluated U.S. evidence and gathered its own data concluded in December 2017 that U.S. recordings of a grating, supposedly unnatural sound match the chirping of the Jamaican field cricket, a notoriously noisy insect that's common in Cuba. People's state of mind determined whether they developed symptoms, the first diplomat asserts. "I don't know anybody who at one point thought we were under no risk and then subsequently decided that they were a victim."

He himself heard a mysterious sound one night last June. "Standing in the atrium of my house, it was so loud and metallic, my brain literally hurt," he says. He called the embassy security officer, who came over and recorded the sound. But his housekeeper knew right away it was a Jamaican field cricket. "She grew up on a farm. She's like, ‘Oh yeah, they drive people crazy.’"

The second diplomat echoes that experience. The sound, she says, "was eerie. A really nasty sound. Not like your head is going to explode, but it's very unpleasant." Then she and her family heard it on several more occasions outdoors. "That was reassuring. We realized it had to be the crickets."

She acknowledges that over time, a divide widened between "the true believers" and those like her who are skeptical that there was an attack.

It makes you wonder if that's the story behind the Associated Press recording, doesn't it?!!
(See also calebprime's post.)

 

[dann]

In view of the cricket story: Could this be the solution to the problem in Guangzhou?

The most commonly eaten insect groups are beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, cicadas, leaf- and planthoppers, scale insects, termites, dragonflies and flies.
Insects, a healthy alternative: report by Li Wenfang in Guangzhou (China Daily, Oct. 4, 2013 )

 

[dann]

I only just discovered this one-hour-long podcast from March 2, 2018, with Dr. Robert E. Bartholomew, the world's leading expert on mass hysteria, talking with Rob McConnell of The 'X' Zone radio show:

 

[dann]

Be warned!

I listened to the interview with Robert Bartholomew twice last night, the first time focussed on him only, neglecting the speaker comments and the many commercials. The second time I heard it all - and it's quite a mouthful.
The Canadian radio show The 'X' Zone presents itself as "a place where Fact is Fiction and Fiction is Reality" and these are its usual topics:

11:11, 2012, 666: The Number Of The Beast, 9/11, Alien Abduction, Aliens, Angels, Apocalypse, Astrology, Atlantis, The Bible, Chinese Astrology, Conspiracy Theories, Cosmology, Crop Circles, Cryptozoology, Crystals, Demonology, Dreams And Dream Interpretation, Electronic Voice Phenomena, End Times, End-Time Prophecies, ESP, Exorcism, Extraterrestrial Communication, Fairies, Forbidden Knowledge, Ghosts, Government Cover-ups, Hauntings, Herbalism, Kennedy Assassination, Kirlian Photography, Life After Death, Lost Tribes And Civilizations, Mind Over Matter, Near-Death Experience, Nostradamus, Numerology, Occult, Ouija Boards, Palmistry, Paranormal Hoaxes And Frauds, Paranormal, Parapsychology, Past Life Regression, Precognition, PSI, Psychic Phenomena, Psychic Phenomenon, Psychic Surgery, Raelians, Reincarnation, Remote Viewing, Sacred Geometry, Science Fiction, Séances, Shadow People, Shamanism, Spiritualists, Tarot Cards, The Apocalypse, The Bermuda Triangle, The Dalai Lama, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Michigan Triangle, Time Travel, UFO Crashes, UFOs, Unsolved Mysteries, Vile Vortices, VooDoo, Wicca, Zombies and much more!

However, the skeptic Robert E. Bartholomew is focussed and unfazed by Rob McConnell's weird questions and obvious misunderstandings until the very end when he is interrupted at a critical point where he is going to explain how cell phones have affected mass psychogenic illness, which appears to have changed since the last millennium - due to cell phones.
Unfortunately, Robert Bartholomew is completely cut off at this point. Now, I think that he was going to say something similar to what I've observed myself: That the social media have widened the affected groups in cases of mass hysteria: They used to be limited to rather confined groups like schools or military bases, but nowadays the rumors, the 'vector' of mass psychogenic illnesses, are sometimes spread by means of the social media. This is what happened with the recent HPV-vaccine scare in Denmark. (Which has now been contained and successfully reversed!)
But the interviewer is obviously thinking of electromagnetic radiation from cell phones as the culprit and doesn't let Robert Bartholomew finish. So it's kind of a confirmed-skeptic-meets-the-dark-side interview - interrupted by commercials for psychics and books by conspiracy fanatics.

 

[dann]

And now in Singapore ... No, sorry, false alarm!

As President Donald Trump was heading to Singapore for a historic summit with North Korea’s leader, a State Department diplomatic security agent who was part of the advance team reported hearing an unusual sound he believed was similar to what was experienced by US diplomats in Cuba and China who later became ill.
The agent immediately underwent medical screening — part of a new US government protocol established to respond to such potential health incidents anywhere in the world. And while the president was flying to the Southeast Asian city-state, the US delegation preparing for his arrival was exchanging urgent messages with the State Department headquarters back in Washington, including the agency’s diplomatic security and the US Secret Service.
It turned out to be a false alarm, according to four US officials familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
‘Sonic attack’ scare before Trump-Kim summit raises security concerns (New York Post/Associated Press, June 26, 2018)

There have now been 26 Americans confirmed by the US State Department to have been affected by the mysterious condition, with cases reported in Cuba, China, Uzbekistan and — in the past few days — Singapore.
The Singapore case has since been described as a false alarm, but US officials remain on high alert; the State Department has now implemented a policy of immediately investigating any reports from staff of suspicious sounds or unexplained symptoms out of "an abundance of caution".
(…)
But Dr Bartholomew is undeterred in his hysteria theory.
"The people who are most susceptible to mass hysteria are those that think they are not susceptible," he said.
"I think what we're seeing is a combination of ever present background noises — crickets, cicadas — and social paranoia, and tinnitus — there's a lot of people who have tinnitus.
"It is the placebo effect, in reverse."
US embassy 'sonic attack' cases 'the placebo effect in reverse', mass hysteria expert says (ABC News, July 2, 2018)

It would be really interesting to know how they could dismiss the alleged case in Singapore, but not the ones in Havana and Guangzhou.

"For me this whole case can be summed up in a single sentence: 'When you hear the sound of hoofbeats in the night, first think 'horses', not 'zebras'," Bartholomew said, referring to people's stereotypical tendency to arrive at unlikely medical diagnoses in the face of more plausible explanations.
"These people at the State Department are thinking, 'unicorns' – they've gone for the most exotic hypothesis, and one that's scientifically impossible [because] sonic weapons cannot cause these conditions."
Those 'Sonic Attack' Victims Are Actually Experiencing Mass Hysteria, Expert Claims - What if there never was any attack? (Science Alert, July 3, 2018)

 

[Dabop]

Three new articles.




I'm considering a forum poll to determine how many of us have experienced any of the symptoms mentioned above!

OMG the USA is attacking my town in outback Australia!!!

In the last week alone I have suffered ALL of the symptoms...