Bulletins and News Discussion from July 24th to July 30th, 2023 - Venezuela's 4,600,000th House

The Great Housing Mission of Venezuela, launched in 2011 by Hugo Chavez, is the most ambitious housing project in the country's history. This week, the 4,600,000th house was built, with a goal for 5 million homes by 2024 and beyond. The program has built 1,255 residential complexes on a total of 9,837 hectares, an area equivalent to six times the Swiss city of Geneva.

The program additionally provides social infrastructure like schools, subsidized food markets, and recreational and green spaces. Over 70% of constructions are self-managed by communities, with financial and logistics support from the government. Communities also provide each other with materials - from each according to their supplies, to each according to their needs. Russian, Chinese, and Belarusian companies have helped supply the program over the years.

In Antímano Parish in southwestern Caracas, a group of predominantly women came together in 2015 and trained in construction, cleared land, and then built apartments while under the pressure of food and materials shortages and electricity blackouts due to the United States' sanctions campaign.

Claudia Tisoy, a mother and self-trained plumber, said “This goes beyond building homes for our families, we are also building the future of our country, with women leading the way. This is what the socialist horizon is all about.”^VA

Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.

This week's first update is here in the comments.

This week's second update is here in the comments.

This week's third update is here in the comments.

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709 comments

Rumour flying around that since the Russians started using remote detonated explosives the Ukrainians are really jumpy about taking trenches now. For 2-3 weeks the Russians have been evacuating trenches, waiting for Ukrainians to move in to them then blowing them up with remotely activated explosives.
Well now when the Ukrainians take trenches they don't want them in they throw flashbangs to scare the shit out of the Ukrainians and they all run out of them.
- when the Ukrainians take trenches they don't want them in they throw flashbangs to scare the shit out of the Ukrainians and they all run out of them.
  They're letting Russian soldiers get literally right on top of them to 'nade them? I mean sure it'll take a decent chunk of time to convert captured trenches to have their defenses be orientated towards the new front line, but are those trenches designed in such a way that thr Ukrainians can't even defend themselves from an infantry assaunt?
  
  No they're already on top of them. The two sides have trenches that are only 60meters apart on some of the front lines. It's ww1 out there.
  
  It's actually pretty interesting (in a morbid sort of way) how advances in aerial reconnaissance means that any large troop movements get spotted and bombed immediately so everyone has reverted to dig hole in ground and take potshots in the enemy's general direction. Is manoeuver warfare over or are the Russians too unwilling to take decisive action due to fear of losses?
  
  I think manoever warfare relies upon people not digging in and that the only thing that would stop people digging in like this is gas. Which could make an appearance eventually but is a very large political calculation to make as it would be deeply unpopular.
  
  That's a great question. In my non-expert opinion I imagine maneuver warfare as NATO implements it has to be relegated out of its seat of primacy and a more balanced doctrine must be taken. It's too reliant on air supremacy and - from my understanding of it - too reliant on the rather strategically decentralized and autonomous brigade combat team.
  The current officer Corps is now made up of occupation-era officers who's careers have been essentially colonial police commandants, as all the officers that have actually commanded strategic level campaigns (operation Iraqi freedom) have retired. The current officers have to rely on what they’ve learned in military science, which seems sound in theory but is untested in practice.
  Without a doubt all the western powers are taking mad notes - if they're not huffing their own propaganda - right now as the next best way to learn is by learning from others experiences
  
  Yeah I remember seeing that trench line Lancaster was in and all I could think was "this freaking sucks balls"
  
  It really fucking does.

709 comments