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I just watched an old episode of Stargate SG-1, Season 4 (2000-2001), Point of No Return. It is the episode with a conspiracy nut, who believes that he is an extraterrestrial alien, which he turns out to actually be.
"CIA-sanctioned microwave harassment" is one of his many delusions. :)
 
Upcoming:
Sonic deception has proven vital when it comes to conflict, whether it’s animals surviving in the wild or human beings using sound tactics to turn the tide of a battle. And as audio technology becomes more and more sophisticated, its importance is only growing. In the third and last episode about acoustic stratagems, we’ll take a look at the future of warfare, from sound cannons to directed audio, and whether Havana syndrome might mark the start of a new age of sonic weaponry.
Scary Pigs And Phantom Planes: Audio Warfare Through The Ages (Jodi Krangle, voiceoversandvocals.com, Nov 23, 2022)


I hope that she will illustrate her next blog post with a couple of cricket videos.


She didn't!
Even if the LRAD can be used as a sound cannon, it does have a multitude of peaceful, constructive uses as well. So what about true sonic weapons, devices that are specifically designed to use sound to cause harm? Although a CIA report earlier this year concluded that “Havana syndrome,” the mysterious hearing-related illness that’s afflicted dozens of embassy workers all over the world, doesn’t seem to be related to a sonic device, its cause remains unknown. The audio technology to turn sound into a weapon does seem to exist. I’ve talked before about how directed audio is already being used to help create personalized customer sound experiences in public places, and how both ultrasound and infrasound exposure can lead to debilitating symptoms at a high enough volume.
An Assault On The Ears: The Future Of Audio Warfare (Jodi Krangle, voiceoversandvocals.com, Nov 30, 2022)


No, its cause doesn't remain unknown! A lot of people are in denial about the cause, but that is not the same thing.
 
This lecture brings together the themes from the seminars via the prism of what is referred to as ‘Havana Syndrome’, or the alleged sonic attacks on the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba dating from 2016 onwards.
How did the uncertainty regarding these ‘health incidents’ accelerate speculation on the methods and causes of the so-called ‘attacks’ about inaudible vibration or unsound, and what does this teach us about the affective and epistemological dimensions of the sonic ecology of war.
Steve Goodman: Havana Syndrome and the Weaponization of Unsound (Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, on YouTube, Dec 9, 2022 - 1:12:14)


Also here: Public Talk with Steve Goodman: Havana Syndrome and the Weaponization of Unsound (Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Nov 2, 2022)
 
Haseltine points out there are plenty of reasons that some of the exotic, RF-EMF, and acoustic weapons mentioned in Belous’ paper sound precisely like the type of things that could account for the rash of anomalous health effects commonly referred to as the “Havana Syndrome.”
“I worry that what’s going on is real and say the Russians are doing it for the same reason they do the Colonial Pipeline, and for the same reason, they buzz our airplanes and harass them,” Haseltine shared his thoughts on the Havana Syndrome incidents. “There’s a whole under-surface campaign going on. And I don’t know what our side is doing, but it’s definitely war. It’s a gray war going on.”
“I view the Havana syndrome as just one arrow in the quiver that the Russians use to influence our thinking.”
The Strange Tale of Russia's UFO Wonder Weapons Based on "New Physical Principles" (The Debrief, Dec 9, 2022)


The 'syndrome' has definitely influenced the thinking of the U.S. State Department, but the Russians weren't the ones who came up with it ...
 
The 'syndrome' is not the only mass hysteria pushed by the CBS. The fentanyl scare is another one:

We've seen cops across the nation, including right here in our backyard, work themselves up into proper panic attacks over the possible existence of fentanyl in the same space as them. Now the fentanyl panic is being pushed into the living rooms of your parents and grandparents via the most effective organ of police propaganda in the United States: network cop procedurals.
A recent trailer for the CBS show FBI showed just how pernicious the "fentanyl as dirty bomb" narrative has become.
CBS show 'FBI' roasted over contributing to police fentanyl panic in new episode (Orlando Weekly, Dec 14, 2022)
 
Rima Parikh and Brandon Follick take us on A Guided Audio Tour of the C.I.A. Museum:
Track 884: These documents contain the first medical reports of Havana Syndrome. Each patient goes into nauseating detail about their symptoms—ranging from general pain to tinnitus to inability to focus. Funny—not one of them mentioned the symptom of lacking gratitude for staying in a fancy hotel on the C.I.A.’s dime.
A Guided Audio Tour of the C.I.A. Museum (The New Yorker, Dec 17 (!), 2022)


I don't think that "staying at a fancy hotel" on anybody's dime would make me feel any gratitude if the stay had actually caused brain damage, so I find the comment bizarre. The article doesn't make it clear if the CIA Museum contains soundtracks of Mr. Burns stating that the brains of the allegedly brain-damaged CIA operatives were never damaged by adversarial sonics, microwaves or crickets.

In the context, I also find another track worth mentioning:
Track 033: Notice a baggie of hair belonging to the infamous Fidel Castro. If you had told us that it would be so hard to kill an old guy in an Adidas tracksuit, we would’ve told you that the nickname Coconut Castro that we made up was not racially charged. Many are critical of our work in Cuba, but I want to remind you all that it’s a terrible, dangerous, anti-American place. I mean, you should see what we’re doing at Guantánamo.
 
This old Pravda article actually supports the idea that 'Havana Syndrome' is caused by microwave weapons. It even considers Beatrice Colomb to be a serious scientist:
It should be noted that Beatrice Colomb specialises in the effects of microwaves on the human body. The US State Department reported back that they read the report with interest.
Who masterminds the Havana syndrome phenomenon? (Pravda.ru, Oct 26, 2021)
 
Mass hysteria among trained diplomats is unlikely.


Long and very interesting article by Dr. Peter Robinson, "a physician and assistant professor of neurology at the Ohio State University."

Havana Syndrome was another specific syndrome with a specific solution. A global pandemic and Vladimir Putin solved what doctors couldn’t. But like TikTok Tourette’s, Havana Syndrome was a moment. It was the first time in living memory when functional neurological disorder prominently clustered in a very high status population. Nobody can argue that career State Department employees, armed with masters degrees from Georgetown, esteemed by the journalists who would write their stories, known to the legislators who set aside money for their diagnosis and treatment (Congress voted unanimously!), are the subaltern. They aren’t the victims of patriarchy, or of any notable oppression. Nor, to preempt any sort of revanchist chauvinism, were they the wrong class of people, the people you might discount as superstitious or low-information. Were they particularly easily influenced? They had probably read books about groupthink, about the mind-body connection, possibly even about the history of hysteria. But their education and their resumes and their security clearances didn’t protect them from catching a disease mimetically, from colleagues in other countries.
What 'Long Covid' Means (The American Conservative, Dec 12, 2022)


By the way, the author is not one of those people who dismiss all long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections as psychogenic. He is well aware of the physiological damage that the virus may cause:

The tissue damage Covid can do, while incompletely understood, is quite concrete. Covid can affect the lungs, the heart, the kidneys. We know it can precipitate diabetes in some patients. We know it can affect the vasculature and dispose people to clot pathologically. It is wholly unsurprising that patients might have long-term problems with various organ systems after Covid.
 
ANTIFA did it!

And the Trumpistas are the real victims!

LOCAL EXPERT: EVERYONE MUST TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY
In a sinister new development, Radio Free Ozarks has learned from our source inside the FBI of stateside Havana Syndrome attacks carried out by US-based Antifa operatives targeting supporters of Donald Trump. A leaked US intelligence memo states that in at least one case a Trump supporter was targeted simply for having a “Trump Won” sign in her yard.
The leaked memo, which our source confirmed as believable, states that the communist partners of Russia, China, and Cuba transferred this technology stateside to the US domestic terror organisation Antifa in early 2022.
TRUMP SUPPORTERS TARGETED BY HAVANA SYNDROME – AND IT COULD BE HAPPENING TO YOU! (Radio Free Ozarks, Dec 29, 2022)


The article has many useful tips on how to protect yourself if you happen to be one of the many "GOP political figures and supporters" targeted by microwave attacks "in recent months."
 
One-year-old podcast:

Our podcast on the science and technology making the news. This week we investigate scientific theories behind the puzzling malady afflicting Western diplomats.
NEW CASES of Havana syndrome are baffling scientists. Alok Jha investigates the theories behind the mysterious malady plaguing Western diplomats. Are microwave weapons to blame, or could the illness have psychological origins? Runtime: 39 min
Havana Syndrome - the mystery illness baffles again (The Economist, Jan 18, 2022)


Notice the date of the podcast! Jan 18, 2022, was less than a week after new cases of the 'Havana Syndrome' had been reported in Geneva and Paris and immediately before CIA dismissed the idea that the vast majority of cases were caused by any kind of microwave or ultrasound attacks.
The podcast can also be heard here: Babbage: Havana syndrome, The Economist Podcasts (Apple Podcasts, 39:49 min)

The interviewees have been mentioned in the thread before: Marc Polymeropoulos, James Giordano, James Lin, Robert Bartholomew and Alan Carson.
 
Beatrice Golomb has been mentioned several times in the thread. She is very popular among people who believe that they are victims of electro smog and/or 5G radiation.

Dr. Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, researcher and author will be discussing her research on Havana Syndrome and pulsed radio-frequency microwave radiation, as well as the parallels to individuals affected by wireless radiation in everyday life.
Interview with Theodora Scarato, Environmental Health Trust Executive Director
Dr. Beatrice Golomb shared her published paper with the US State Department entitled “Diplomats’ Mystery Illness and Pulsed Radiofrequency/Microwave Radiation
Havana Syndrome Diplomats' Mystery Illness and Pulsed Microwave Radiation Dr. Beatrice Golomb (Environmental Health Trust on YouTube, Dec 31, 2022)
 
New series of documentaries and podcasts

Havana Syndrome, a medical condition allegedly affecting U.S. diplomats in countries such as Cuba, is to be explored in a new podcast and docuseries.
Nicky Woolf, a journalist who has worked for the Guardian and New Statesman and also hosted Audible’s Qanon podcast Finding Q, is hosting The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome, an eight-part podcast series.
The show comes from Project Brazen and PRX with a documentary series also in the works from the former.
The podcast will launch on January 23. It will explore the events that began in December 2016, when a U.S. official in Havana went to the embassy medical center to report a debilitating and confounding illness that included headaches, nausea, hearing loss, and memory and vision problems. By summer 2017, dozens of U.S. and Canadian diplomats reported similar symptoms with most experiencing a buzzing, hissing or grinding sound – what was becoming known as Havana Syndrome.
Woolf will investigate the syndrome, which has confounded U.S. agencies. The U.S. Department of State said it was a “sonic device,” then rolled that back. The CIA have hinted microwave radiation might be involved. The FBI also denied its existence and now they seem to be rolling that back as well.
The series, which covers spycraft, technology, and the brain, will explore various theories and will feature interviews with diplomats, spies, neurologists, and physicists.
Havana Syndrome Investigation Explored In Podcast & Docuseries From Project Brazen (Deadline, Jan 3, 2023)


In this deep dive investigation, journalist Nicky Woolf peels back the layers of one of the most bizarre mysteries of the modern age. You’ll hear about how the US agencies failed to agree even on the basic premises. State department said it’s a “sonic device,” then rolled that back. The CIA have hinted microwave radiation might be involved. The FBI said there was no “there” there – now they seem to be rolling that back as well.
We’ll explore the wild and wide variety of theories that have been put forward. Could it be caused by noisy crickets? Or mosquito spray? Or could it all be a mass delusion? We’ll hear from the cast of characters who inhabit this world; diplomats and spies, neurologists and physicists, skeptics and believers – and, with their help, begin to piece the evidence together.
THE SOUND is a story about spycraft, technology, and the brain. It’s a story where, at every turn, you’re never quite sure what’s real and what’s an illusion. It’s a story about how the Cold War, maybe, never really ended.
The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome (Apple Podcasts, Dec 28, 2023)


Havana Syndrome Investigation Explored In Podcast & Docuseries From Project Brazen (Deadline on Twitter)

it sounds good that they seem to have listened to both skeptics and believers and not just to the latter the way CBS 60 Minutes did ...
 
The United States Embassy in Cuba restarted full visa and consular operations on Wednesday for the first time since 2017, when staff fell ill with mysterious symptoms known as Havana syndrome.
Cubans seeking to travel to the US had to submit visa requests in a third country — typically Guyana — in the meantime.
"The United States is working to ensure safe, legal, and orderly migration of Cubans by expanding consular operations in Havana and restarting the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP)," the embassy said in a statement last week.

Why did the US stop issuing visas in Cuba?
The consular section of the embassy was closed under the Trump administration in 2017, a year after diplomatic staff and their families fell ill with symptoms that couldn't be attributed to known diseases or environmental causes.
The embassy had already resumed "limited" visa services in May this year.
US restarts Cuba visa service after 'Havana syndrome' scare (DW, Jan 4, 2022)


It took the Biden Administration two years to get to this point, but the charade isn't over yet, which becomes clear when you read the transcript from the press briefing yesterday:

QUESTION: Switching topics. Cuba. The embassy I believe today resumed visa operations for immigrants. What does this say both – does this have any implications more broadly for relations with Cuba? And also, what does it say about Havana Syndrome – so-called Havana Syndrome that was the original reason for reducing staff levels there? Is there a perception that there’s no longer the same threat level, at least in Havana?

MR PRICE: (...)
When it comes to anomalous health incidents, we have reviewed our staffing posture at our embassy in Havana at the direction of the President, and we’re exploring options to augment staffing to facilitate diplomatic, consular, and civil society engagement with an appropriate security posture, as we do around the world. Our top priority remains the health of – and safety of U.S. citizens overseas, including of course our diplomats and their family members, and we’re working to get to the bottom of anomalous health incidents and to provide top-notch care and support to everyone affected.
The investigation into what has caused these incidents and how we can protect our people is ongoing. And this represents a major effort that is underway within the interagency – among the White House, the Defense Department, Intelligence Community, as well as Congress and leading scientists, all with the input of the State Department, of course.
So the fact that we have been able to augment our staffing posture at our embassy in Havana is a signal that we are confident in our ability to mitigate the risks, confident in our ability to take prudent steps to protect our people. But this is something we evaluate and re-evaluate on a – virtually a daily basis.

QUESTION: Just briefly, you say you’re confident about the – the State Department is confident about the ability to mitigate the risk, in the sense that it’s not – there’s not seen as a particular risk in Havana from anomalous health incidents as opposed to other places? MR PRICE: Well, diplomacy is never a risk-free endeavor, and our goal— is never a risk-free endeavor.

QUESTION: What? Oh, “risk-free.” I thought you said “risky endeavor.”

MR PRICE: Yes. Yes, it is never a risk-free endeavor. And our intention is never to eliminate risk, because we know that’s impossible. Our goal is to mitigate risk, and to conduct our operations responsibly, safely, taking into account all of the prudent precautions that are necessary in posts around the world. And that’s what we’re doing here.

QUESTION: But you’re – but just to be specific as to this, you’re looking to add people, not reduce people, to Havana?

MR PRICE: Over the course of the last year, we have —

QUESTION: No, I know, but now, from now —

MR PRICE: Yes, we have added people, and as we restart this visa processing out of our embassy in Havana, our intention, our hope will be to add people so we can expand those services that we’re able to provide from Havana.
Department Press Briefing – January 4, 2023 (U.S. Department of State)


So the State Department is well aware that no diplomat or CIA agent in Havana was ever attacked by an adversary wielding ultrasonic or microwave weapons, the spokesperson Ned Price doesn't say that any such thing happened, and even the term 'Havana Syndrome' has been abandoned in favor of the much more neutral "anomalous health incidents," but they just can't let go of the pretense that U.S. officials were victims of something other than mass psychogenic illness, which is the reason why Ned Price doesn't really answer the question about "a particular risk in Havana from anomalous health incidents as opposed to other places."

Has the U.S. State Department ever officially acknowledged that there were no WMDs to be found in Iraq in 2003?!

Because of its prolific use and (worldwide) public profile during this period, the American Dialect Society voted "weapons of mass destruction" (and its abbreviation, "WMD") the word of the year in 2002,[23] and in 2003 Lake Superior State University added WMD to its list of terms banished for "Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness" (and "as a card that trumps all forms of aggression").
Weapon of mass destruction (Wikipedia)


Isn't it high time for Havana Syndrome to be added to the American Dialect Society's "list of terms banished for "Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness" (and "as a card that trumps all forms of aggression")"?!
 
In the article about the U.S. embassy in Havana resuming visa processing, U.S. embassy in Cuba resumes full immigrant visa processing for the first time since 2017 (Jan 4, 2022), Reuters (and along with them several others) insist that "several of its staff were stricken with a still largely unexplained ailment dubbed "Havana Syndrome"."

Yes, the ailment was dubbed 'Havana Syndrome'.
But no, it is not at all "largely unexplained". It isn't even particularly 'anomalous'. it was explained several years ago. Claiming that it wasn't is moronic.

This is much like last year when Susan Collins dismissed the CIA report about the alleged syndrome:

Republican Senator Susan Collins said in a statement that she was "surprised" by the conclusions.
"It is difficult to reconcile the findings of the expert task force at the CIA with other evidence and testimony," she said.
CIA Finds Russia, Other Foreign Actors Unlikely To Be Behind 'Havana Syndrome' (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Jan 21, 2022)


That it is difficult to reconcile the Big Bang and evolution with the Book of Genesis is a very poor argument against the findings of cosmology and biology.
 
More :alien011:

A hotly anticipated, but threadbare, UFO report from U.S. intelligence and defense agencies doesn’t answer any questions about aliens.
The latest Pentagon UFO report finds balloons, drones and trash — but no aliens (Grid, Jan 13, 2023)


Nor does it find any microwave weapon-wielding adversaries:

The new report also does explicitly say there is no evidence of UAPs harming anyone, despite claims linking the phenomena to “Havana Syndrome,” neurological injuries reported by U.S. and Canadian diplomats in Cuba with no known cause. (Another report by U.S. intelligence agencies, released last year, debunked the great majority of several hundred Havana Syndrome claims collected by federal agencies since 2017, leaving only a few dozen still unclear.) “This of course is a notion that has long circulated in ufology circles, namely that many individuals who have encounters with UFOs soon after become ill or are left with wounds of some kind,” said Eghigian. “All in all, I’m guessing this is going to leave a lot of close observers rather unimpressed.”

Among lawmakers, for example, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the Republican vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said “more needs to be done,” in a statement. He did call the increased number of observations “significant,” however.


Aren't guys like Adam Schiff, Devin Nunes, Gregory Meeks, Marco Rubio, Susan Collins and Jeanne Shaheen the least bit embarrassed about living in this rabbit hole?

ETA:
Among other notable inclusions, the 12-page public assessment confirmed that there have “been no encounters with UAP confirmed to contribute directly to adverse health-related effects to the” observers to date. Military aviators in the past have reportedly experienced adverse health effects with symptoms like that of the mysterious Havana syndrome, which has impacted U.S. spies and diplomats.
When asked by DefenseScoop during the Pentagon briefing on Thursday whether the department or ODNI could share more details about what any anomalous health incidents associated with UAP sightings actually ended up being due to, Ryder said that he did not have further information to provide at the time.
New 'official channels' for sharing data on unexplained phenomena leads to uptick in Pentagon's collection of evidence (FedScoop, Jan 13, 2023)
 
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I posted this on Dec 2, 2022:

Sung Tieu is back again, this time in Switzerland:
Artist Sung Tieu Searches for Evidence That Havana Syndrome Is Real at Art Basel Miami Beach (ArtNews, Nov 28, 2022)
No, I don't think she does. Not really.


And Basel is in Switzerland, of course, so I thought that it would be an art exhibition in Basel called Miami Beach, much like the Danish museum of modern art south of Elsinore called Louisiana, but it is the other way round.

As for the exhibition:

Tieu was able to find a declassified recording from the American government of an alleged sonic attack that is said to have resulted in officials falling ill. Using an MRI machine, Tieu took scans of her brain as she exposed herself to the sonic weapon.
Exposure To Havana Syndrome, Brain Anatomy, Coronal Plane (2022), a 12-piece work at the fair, features image captures of her brain, taken at different depths, that were engraved onto reflective metal plates. The brain slices are lit up in dusty yellows, blues, and oranges.
Knowing the context of the work, it’s impossible not to look for evidence of harm. Are these scans supposed to look this way? Is a particular color some evidence of the weird legend that is the Havana Syndrome?(...)
“It’s hard to tell. She has a headache, and is it because she had a headache or because she exposed herself to the sonic weapon?” the Emalin representative said.
Artist Sung Tieu Searches for Evidence That Havana Syndrome Is Real at Art Basel Miami Beach (ArtNews)


"Tieu was able to find a declassified recording" sounds as if finding these recordings is much more complicated than it actually is. They have been available online since 2017, and until fairly recently (i.e. until Mark Zaid told them not to do it, I assume) victims of the sounds could be seen playing them on TV as documentation of the alleged sonic attacks.


Also from the world of art in Miami:
This lecture brings together the themes from the seminars via the prism of what is referred to as ‘Havana Syndrome’, or the alleged sonic attacks on the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba dating from 2016 onwards.
How did the uncertainty regarding these ‘health incidents’ accelerate speculation on the methods and causes of the so-called ‘attacks’ about inaudible vibration or unsound, and what does this teach us about the affective and epistemological dimensions of the sonic ecology of war.
About Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman, known as Kode9 (born 1973) is a Glasgow-born, London-based electronic music artist, DJ, and owner of the Hyperdub record label. An MC, The Spaceape, is a frequent collaborator.
Initially inspired by what he calls the “hardcore continuum”, he also draws on dub reggae, and was one of the founding members of the early dubstep scene (which he views as a continuation of developments originally stemming from UK Hardcore).
He appeared on the Grime compilation on Rephlex, and released two full-length albums: Memories of the Future and Black Sun (both featuring the Spaceape) on his own label Hyperdub.
Kode9 has a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Warwick and has published a book, Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear.
Steve Goodman: Havana Syndrome and the Weaponization of Unsound (Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, on YouTube, Dec 9, 2022 - 1:12:14)

Steve Goodman is obviously focussed on sonics and not on microwaves. I don't think they are mentioned even once. In spite of having written a book about sonic warfare, he tends to agree with Baloh and Bartholomew that the 'syndrome' is psychological rather than technological in nature.

In the case of both Steve Goodman's lecture and the description of Sung Tieu's installation, the mixture of the vocabulary of science, humanities and art reminds me of J.G.Ballard, but maybe that's because the whole 'Havana Syndrome' already sounds like something Ballard could have made up.
I wonder if Sung Tieu has read The Atrocity Exhibition. I would recommend it!
 
New short (0:57) teaser video on Twitter from Project Brazen, which I mentioned in post 1,634 on Jan 3, 2023.

Are you suffering from acute disorientation?
Is it difficult to maintain focus, balance, or even complete basic tasks?

��You could be experiencing THE SOUND.

…Follow THE SOUND http://soundistheweapon.com

#january23@ApplePodcasts
https://twitter.com/ProjectBrazen/status/1612453875600052224


I guess it works well as a teaser. It may attract an audience that isn't already interested in 'Havana Syndorme'. But I do hope that the actual podcast will be less ... I don't know ... sensationalist, I guess, and more serious than the teaser.
As it is, it appears to be intended to scare the **** out of 'Targeted Individuals'.
 
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