Merged US may close Cuba Embassy over 'health attacks'

[dann]

US government is trying to give ferrets Havana Syndrome

Remember the ferret brain study at Wayne University financed by the DoD? If not, go to post 1,776.

It was the one where "researchers planned to expose the 48 ferrets to radio frequency waves for two hours a day for 60 days. This is expected to result in “an exposure profile that is likely comparable to that which our embassy personnel received.”"

The study was terribly scientific. In fact, it was so scientific that they even had a control group of ferrets that would be exposed to placebo microwaves:
"Twenty-four additional ferrets will receive “sham exposure,” according to the summary."
I'm still wondering how exactly they would do that, and I really want to know. I imagine something like "Confuse-A-Cat, Amaze-A-Vole, Stun-A-Stoat, Puzzle-A-Puma, Startle-A-Thompson's-Gazelle, Bewilderebeest, Distract-A-Bee."
I am not the only one looking forward to hearing about the results or at least seeing the abstract. (I assume that the paragraphs about sham microwave exposure can be found under Method.)
The 'syndrome' sufferers look forward to the study, too!
"“This type of testing will be integral to us finally finding out what happened to the AHI victims as we will be able to compare the imaging that was done on our brains to what will be seen from animals who are subject to radio frequency waves,” said Marc Polymeropoulos."

The study was supposed to have ended in September 2023, and I have been anxiously googling to learn more about it since then - ordinary Google as well as Google Scholar - but so far not a word.
Now, I know that it probably takes some time write a study of this magnitude, but at this point I'm starting to fear that we'll never know, and that it will become a Top Secret document never to be declassified.

I am also starting get a little suspicious: Wouldn't we have heard something by now if they had made any groundbreaking discoveries? I remember how members of the Senate Intelligence Committee told journalists how it was almost certain that the Havana diplomats and spies had been zapped, that the proof was there, that members of the intelligence services had told them so.

Wouldn't it have been leaked to the public by now if the Wayne study has resulted in anything other than fried ferret brains? Wouldn't the sources of journalists like Anderson, Entous and Woolf be insinuating that the irradiated ferrets had retinal bleeding or looked as if they were hearing voices or cricket sounds caused by the Frey effect?

If they had trained the ferrets to respond in a certain way to the sound of crickets before they microwaved them, causing the same reaction by means of microwaves could have been considered proof positive that Putin did it, couldn't it?!

But not a word. It's all crickets.

 

[dann]

There's a new thread in Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology, Online Neurodivergence Ecosystems, about "children taking on the characteristics of rare psychiatric diagnoses" like the 'TikTok Tourette's', which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread.

 

[dann]

Ferret Brains



As mentioned in post 2,081, I have been waiting to hear the results of the DoD-sponsored ferret brain study at Wayne State U. It was supposed to have ended in September of this year, but as it turns out, it ended in March:

The test involved bombarding 48 ferrets with radio waves to induce brain injuries in a purported attempt to study whether a directed energy weapon could induce the effects of Havana syndrome in humans. It was scheduled to end on September 29, costing taxpayers $750,000. But the Army canceled its grant to Wayne State and ended the experiments on March 10, public records show, just one day after the release of a Politico exposé highlighting PETA’s opposition to the tests. The records note that “Wayne State has elected to rescind this award and the [U.S. government] has agreed that a collaborative closeout is in the best interest of both parties.” Since the grant was canceled, the university apparently refunded $512,000 of the money on August 30.
Victory! Army Ends Brain-Damage Testing on Ferrets at Wayne State Following Pressure From PETA (PETA, Nov 16, 2023)

I suspect that the ODNI report may have had more to do with the untimely ending of the ferret-brain experiment than the Politico article. I also suspect that Pentagon wouldn't have been so willing to put an end to this particular experiment if the first five months had indicated that Wayne State U was on the verge of proving that the brains of U.S. diplomats in Havana had been microwaved.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

I also suspect that Pentagon wouldn't have been so willing to put an end to this particular experiment if the first five months had indicated that Wayne State U was on the verge of proving that the brains of U.S. diplomats in Havana had been microwaved.

I suspect you are right. Damn PETA! Now we will never know whether directed energy weapons were used on ferrets embassy staff.

Not that it would make any difference. If the study didn't confirm the hypothesis people would just say ferrets and human brains are different so the results are inconclusive. So PETA were right to stop the senseless torture of these poor animals.

The only way to properly test it is to use actual embassy staff at an actual embassy. Immoral! you cry. But we wouldn't actually microwave them, we would just say we had and wait to see what symptoms they developed. Then at the end of the experiment we would reveal the truth - and see how many believe it.

 

[dann]

The only way to properly test it is to use actual embassy staff at an actual embassy. Immoral! you cry. But we wouldn't actually microwave them, we would just say we had and wait to see what symptoms they developed. Then at the end of the experiment we would reveal the truth - and see how many believe it.

They already conducted the test you're proposing. And unlike the ferret-brain study, it worked!
Pentagon considering telling troops to report suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’ incidents (May 26, 2021)

As for the number of people afflicted during the test, Nicky Woolf recently (see post 2,073) claimed, "There's now maybe 5 or 6 thousand."

However, I don't know the number of the entire cohort, and the rather small number of people in the original cohort in Havana who developed the symptoms on their own, i.e. mass psychogenically rather than by means of suggestion by the DoD, the CIA, the State Department etc., should of course be subtracted from the ones in the experiment.

 

[dann]

I just stumbled on a very good podcast from Citations Needed, May 3, 2023. Much like many of Fair Observerhttps://www.fairobserver.com/tag/havana-syndrome/'s articles about the 'syndrome', it had somehow managed to stay below the radar of my regular Google searches for new contributions to the 'syndrome' story and only appeared when I was doing a more specific search.

Episode 180: Havana Syndrome and the Power of Mainstream, Acceptable Conspiracy Theories (Medium, May 3, 2023)
The Medium page also has a transcription of the whole episode.

Also here:

"I Was A Teenage Conspiracy Theorist," The Atlantic magazine playfully titled a 2020 essay. "Choose your reality: Trust wanes, conspiracy theories rise," reported The Associated Press in 2022. "Do You Know Someone Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories? We Want to Hear About It," wrote The New York Times last year.
(...)
On this episode, we detail the double standards applied to conspiracy theories inside and outside of the realm of U.S. corporate media. We’ll examine the development of the concept of conspiracy theories and the media's selective invocations of the term to discredit real grievances directed at American power and the U.S. government, and moreover, how power-friendly conspiracies — namely those focused on Enemy States like the Havana Syndrome narrative — are permitted to fester and grow without pushback because their red yarn dot connecting implicates the right lists of Acceptable Bad Guys.
Our guest is Jacobin writer Branko Marcetic.
Episode 180: Havana Syndrome and the Power of Mainstream, Acceptable Conspiracy Theories (Citations Needed on Podcasts.Apple, 1 hr 26 min)

The first half of the podcast is about previous conspiracy theories, the second half is specifically about the 'Havana syndrome'.

 

[dann]

The 'syndrome' in pop culture: Black Noise - Within the light lies something dark

I don't think this is my kind of movie, and it appears to be the stuff that TI nightmares are made of:

Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.The rescue mission becomes a desperate attempt to survive, escape the island and elude the sinister presence that seeks to harm them.
Black Noise (2023) (IMDb)

Director Philippe Martinez (The Steam Experiment, Viktor) along with his co-writers Sean-Michael Argo (Jeepers Creepers: Reborn, Binary Samurai) and Leigh Scott (Transmorphers, Pirates of Treasure Island) gives Black Noise a kick-ass prologue and follow it up with plenty of mystery once the team reaches the seemingly deserted island. Mike Mahon, making his debut as a cinematographer after working in various capacities on films like The Island and Invisible Monsters: Serial Killers in America, gives the tropical paradise a creepy, Marie Celeste feeling as the mercenaries explore it.

Why has everyone but their client vanished? What is the loud, and painful, noise they keep hearing? And why are they having hallucinations of people and events from their past? They may not be the most original of mysteries, but Black Noise sets them up with more skill than a lot of films. It even brings in a mention of Havana Syndrome, something I haven’t seen used in a film like this before.
https://www.voicesfromthebalcony.com/2023/11/14/black-noise-2023-review/Black Noise (2023) Review (VoicesFromTheBalcony, Nov 14, 2023)

Black Noise Official Trailer (2023) (Saban Films on YouTube, Sep 26, 2023 - 1:30 min)

From the YouTube transcription:

what happens
that sound is freaking me out
what functions have been disabled what
is going on
frequencies beyond our range of hearing
cause problems in the neural pathways
what's ever happening here
it's beyond our understanding
what the hell is that

I don't know what the hell that is, but I bet it's not crickets!
However, the landscape on "the seemingly deserted island" does look kind of Cuban.

 

[dann]

Podcast Award Winner

The winners of the Association for International Broadcasting awards were announced.
Nicky Woolf, the presenter of The Sound: Mystery of Havana Syndrome, won the audio Presenter of the Year award.
Winners and commendations for podcasts included ITV, the BBC, RTÉ, and Project Brazen.
The winners of the AIBs 2023 (PodNews, Nov 13, 2023)

Clive Myrie and Nicky Woolf acclaimed presenters of the year

 

[dann]

The Cambridge Dictionary team chose hallucinate as its Word of the Year 2023 as it recognized that the new meaning gets to the heart of why people are talking about AI. Generative AI is a powerful tool but one we’re all still learning how to interact with safely and effectively – this means being aware of both its potential strengths and its current weaknesses.

But chatbots aren’t the only ones that feel like they’ve been seeing **** lately. I feel like I’ve been tripping pretty heavily for years.
Cambridge Dictionary Names ‘Hallucination’ Word of the Year and I’ve Never Felt So Seen (Gizmodo, Nov 18, 2023)

Among the "bizarre—if slightly less catastrophic—stuff" mentioned in the article: "“Havana syndrome” was a thing."

 

[dann]

The Hum (Wikipedia) is back, this time in Omagh, Northern Ireland:

The BBC reports on strange goings on in Omagh. From the report:

The night-time noise has been reported in a wide area of the County Tyrone town in recent weeks.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s attempts to trace it have so far not been successful.
Now, noise experts could be called in by a Northern Ireland council as it struggles to find the source of a mystery hum.
Alliance Party councillor Stephen Donnelly said it was a serious problem for some residents.
He was initially contacted by people in the Tamlaght Road area of Omagh in late October, but in the weeks since reports of the mystery noise have spread to other parts of the town.

A mysterious humming noise is disturbing the good people of Omagh… (slugger o'toole, Nov 14, 2023)

Omagh hum: Council could call in noise specialists (BBC, Nov 14, 2023)

I assume that the slugger o'toole article popped up instead of the BBC article because some of the readers mention the 'syndrome'.

 

[dann]

More Omagh Hum

What does it sound like? A low-pitched rumble, like a car engine idling, electronic pulsing, that kind of thing. You can find simulations online.
(...)
Weirdly, not everyone can hear the hum: only about 4% of the population (the most susceptible group is middle-aged women), and audio experts often can’t detect what they report with recording equipment.
So, the hum is in their heads? Well, there may not always be an external cause and, where there is, behavioural therapies can help, as with tinnitus. “The more people focus on the noise, the more anxious and fearful they get, the more the body responds by amplifying the sound,” according to audiologist, Dr David Baguley.
The Omagh hum: what is the source of the town’s mystery moan? (TheGuardian, Nov 15, 2023)

At least the 'syndrome' suffering CIA agents in Havana not only heard an actual sound but were even able to record it on their cell phones, which should have been a consolation to them if they hadn't come up with the wrong explanation for it in the first place and then were offended when scientists managed to find the real explanation.

“You hear it when everything quiets down around 10 or 11pm,” said Joe, 62, who preferred to not supply a surname. “It’s hard to describe. It’s a low hum, like an engine. It wouldn’t keep me awake, I’ve got enough noise in my head.” He suspected the cause was industrial.
Lisa Brannigan, 49, reckoned it might come from a goldmine that operates outside Omagh. “We’re in a valley, so sound travels.” A friend,, who declined to be named, said she was “100% certain” it was not aliens.
(...)
Standing on a dark, deserted, humless high street, Killian Murray, 23, wondered if the source might be wind whistling through housing estates. His friend Cathaoir McCullagh, 24, speculated about streetlamp bulbs acting up. His other theory was over-sensitive teenagers. “That generation has lost the plot,” he said.
(...)
Gerard Casey, 37, a manager at The Aviary pub, was a hum sceptic. “I’ve heard of it. I’ve not heard it. I’m beginning to think it’s a myth, a figment of people’s imagination.”
‘It’s a bit of a mystery’: what’s causing Omagh’s hum? (TheGuardian, Nov 21, 2023)

I'm a little worried about Cathaoir. Complaining about teenagers when you're 24 can't be healthy. (In case anybody's wondering about the pronunciation like I was.)

This town in Northern Ireland can hear a constant humming noise and no one knows what it is.
There is this mystery known as 'The Hum' that's been reported across the globe for the past fifty years - a low level noise some describe sounds as if a car is running outside your house
The council are investigating
Humming noise heard across Omagh in Northern Ireland currently can't be traced (ITV News on YouTube, Nov 14, 2023 - 1:26 min)

Council officials are looking at calling in noise specialists in an attempt to locate a mystery hum disturbing residents of a Co Tyrone town.
People in Omagh have been reporting a persistent low level hum or buzz in the town for several weeks.
Noise officers have been sent out to investigate it and have heard it, but have so far been unable to identify the source.
Omagh's mystery hum keeps Tyrone residents awake (RTÉ News on YouTube, Nov 15, 2023 - 1:35 min)

ETA: I bet the hum sounds better in French with a silent h:

Un "hum" : c'est comme ça que les riverains d'Omagh, une ville d'Irlande du Nord, décrivent le bruit qu'ils entendent chaque nuit
Le "Hum", ce mystérieux bourdonnement qui frappe la ville d'Omagh (GEO, Nov 23, 2023)

 

[Twilek]

Thank you Dann, for continuing this thread. As the sister of a self-appointed "TI", who is now, unfortunately, teaching her teenage daughter this conspiracy theory, this is the most informative deep dive into Havana Syndrome that I've seen. I know my arguments won't change her mind, but at least I have a resource I can turn to when I myself have questions.

 

[dann]

You and Sherkeu may have something to talk about.

Occasionally, I reply to tweets at #HavanaSyndrome, which has almost entirely been taken over by TIs and the people who prey on them. I don't think I change anybody's mind, but some of them seem to appreciate when, for instance, I tell them why the doctor's report they have received after a brainscan and sometimes shared in a tweet doesn't mean what they have interpreted it to mean. Whenever possible I provide a relevant Wikipedia link.

It may be a way to get through to the people you are close to and don't want to alienate: Stick to the facts about specifics and stay non-confrontational. It's then up to them to draw the conclusion that, 'Well, if I was wrong about this one, maybe I was also ...'
Or not ...

 

[dann]

A (minor) Mystery Solved

I got this wrong:

Unfortunately, I can't find the article by Baloh and Bartholomew, Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert: Commentary to “Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem”, that Della Sala's article is a commentary to. (Stendhal)

The title of the article by Baloh and Bartholomew would have been "Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem", whereas "Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert" would be the title of Della Sala's commentary.
However, that doesn't help much because a search for "Havana Syndrome: A Post Mortem" only comes up with links to Sergio Della Sala's commentary.
Did he confuse it with this Bartholomew article (mentioned in post 1,789)? The Death of Havana Syndrome (2016-2023): R.I.P. (Skeptic, March 13, 2023)

Sergio Della Sala wrote about a commentary by the two Roberts, Baloh and Bartholomew, that hasn't been published yet but soon will be in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry.

Two other texts about the 'syndrome' in the same issue:
Della Sala: Politics dictating on science is like a gunshot in a concert (published online Oct 27, 2023)
Mitchell Valdes-Sosa: When politics obstructs self-correction in science (published online Oct 31, 2023)

 

[dann]

After David Relman's NASEM report, it took a looong time for Wikipedia's Havana syndrome page to return to reality.
But now, after the ODNI report, even Wikipedia's page about mass psychogenic illness has a paragraph about the 'syndrome'.
(All links to Wikipedia)

 

[dann]

Many TIs have turned to MAGA, if they weren't already there, because ... well, of course, they have. It's in line with other QAnon conspiracy theories about mind controlling microchips in the vaccines etc.
But the MAGAest of them don't follow the news close enough to have discovered that many 'syndrome' celebrities aren't on the side of MAGA at all.

That Olivia Troye used to work for guy that the Capitol rioters wanted to hang and therefore might not be all in on the Trump cult doesn't seem to have occurred to this one:

Dear #TargetedIndividual World. Olivia Troye tells 60 Minutes about #HavanaSyndrome who worked with VP Mike Pence. How many of us have suffered prior before they spoke out and they DO NOTHING! What a crock of Govt [turd emoji] #neuroweapons is not a Conspiracy
Olivia Troye tells 60 Minutes about “Havana Syndrome”-like experience (60 Minutes on YouTube, June 27, 2022)
Mama Butter Bean (Twitter/X, Dec 4, 2023)

 

[Twilek]

Thank you, Dann. I have reached out.

 

[dann]

I first noticed this study when it was published in October, but I didn't really know what to make of it:
A regulatory pathway model of neuropsychological disruption in Havana syndrome (PubMed)

However, one thing I did notice was that it seemed to bode well for the 'syndrome' sufferers:

Furthermore, simulations of neurological regulatory dynamics reveal subjects do not appear to be "locked in" persistent illness but rather appear to be engaged in a slow recovery trajectory.

I was also looking for anything that would indicate what might have caused the 'syndrome', but not even the graphics seemed to imply that U.S. embassy staff were the victims of sonic or microwave attacks or any other kind of directed-energy weapon. They also indicated that the 'syndrome' sufferers were improving.

However, this is not how targeted individual Len Ber describes the study. He claims that it:

... dismantles the Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis of this non-kinetic brain injury. It shows utilization of the same neuroimmune and neurotransmission regulatory pathways associated with mTBI. Plus, specific markers pointing to pulsed electromagnetic injury. Nothing to see here. The torture continues.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37965360/
Len Ber MD (Twitter/X, Dec 4, 2023)

Wikipedia about FND:

Functional neurologic disorder or functional neurological disorder (FND) is a condition in which patients experience neurological symptoms such as weakness, movement disorders, sensory symptoms, and blackouts. As a functional disorder, there is by definition no known disease process affecting the structure of the body, yet the person experiences symptoms relating to their body function. Symptoms of functional neurological disorders are clinically recognisable, but are not categorically associated with a definable organic disease.
Functional Neurologic disorder

And Len Ber is adamant that his disorder was/is caused by physiological damage to the brain caused by a 'neurostrike'.

However, the dismantling of any "Functional Neurological Disorder Hypothesis" alleged by Len Ber isn't mentioned anywhere in the study, and as for the alleged continued torture, it seems to say the exact opposite as mentioned above. The text to Figure 5 even says:

Predicting the current course of illness. The decisional logic rules that allow the regulatory network to support the symptom severity and functional profiles observed in the N = 6 subjects implicitly determine the profiles that must have preceded the current cross-sectional observation as well as the next state to which the network is expected to progress. As in subject 4 (above), severity scores decrease monotonically, with exception of suicidal ideation score and apathy, with function improving or remaining high suggesting a trend towards a slow partial recovery in this group.

(monotonic in principle means steady, Monotonic function (Wikipedia), i.e. never increasing, in this case.)

I have no idea how reliable this kind of study is, but it doesn't seem to say anything that backs up Len Ber's interpretation.
I used to think that he was misled but basically in good faith, but I am beginning to suspect that he may have grown too fond of his status as a TI celebrity to let go of it, i.e. to prefer to "be "locked in" persistent illness" instead of being "engaged in a slow recovery trajectory."

 

[dann]

In post 2,024, I mentioned that Targeted Individuals had identified Mitch McConnell and Andrea Merkel as prominent members of the TI community.

Here's another one. This time, it's the president of Azerbaijan:

#TargetedIndividuals
#HavanaSyndrome
#テクノロジー犯罪 #ハバナ症候群

Mohammad @Mohamma45740142 Dec 3
Another visible effect and symptom of the bioelectrical weapon (Havana syndrome) is inflammation of the sinuses, drooping of the eyelids above the eyes and abnormal lines around them. Another symptom is puffiness under the eyes and abnormal lines around the eyes.

Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

マー○アルSOS (Twitter/X, Nov 5, 2023)

I remember many a Sunday morning waking up with the symptoms of the bioelectrical weapon.
And as we have learned, the symptoms are real!

 

[dann]

This is not the first time I have come across articles about the 'syndrome' that appear to be have been AI-generated. See post 2,018.

But this one, Symptoms of Havana Syndrome: Understanding the Health Condition (EnergyPortal.eu, Dec 6, 2023), even has an AI-generated illustration! The building appears to be a mixture of Hotel Nacional and the US Capitol or the Capitolio de la Habana. Maybe there's even a bit of Mar-a-lago in there as well, I'm not sure.

The building is surround by bits of weird text, e.g. "Changes of auritalal perseption," "Henercy issues," "Memory isse expeeirced." (And these are some of the less weird ones!)

And then there's this:

Sources:
– CNN
– NPR
– BBC News

Which is about as useful as Sources: The internet! would be.

There was a link to the article here:

"Though initially reported among diplomats and government officials, there have been instances of civilians, including tourists and individuals working in various professions, reporting similar symptoms." #havanasyndrome
Mark McCarron (Twitter/X, Dec 8, 2023)

A reply to the tweet from a TI says simply: "Fact"