Chris has a new podcast for Progress Texas, which is being published here as an introduction for the first few weeks. If you like it, please take a moment and subscribe on the main Progress Texas podcast feed on the platform of your choice. Hope you like it!

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:

Orange river buoys deployed by Governor Abbott and Operation Lone Star are modified with razor-sharp circular saw blades: ⁠https://theweek.com/greg-abbott/1025651/circular-saw-blades-divide-controversial-rio-grande-buoys-installed-by-texas⁠

Texas officials at the border have defied warnings about breaking international and Federal law for months: ⁠https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/08/08/docs-show-rio-grande-agency-warned-texas-for-months-on-border-buoys-before-turning-to-doj/⁠

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro isn't buying DPS claims of "working well" with U.S. Border Patrol: ⁠https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/border-eagle-pass-democrats-18284715.php⁠

A Texas A&M professor says all this cruelty at the border won't work anyway: ⁠https://theeagle.com/opinion/column/abbotts-barrels-wire-fences-wont-work/article_d9a953be-34c3-11ee-ab39-17dc6a41f352.html⁠

Texas gets another national black eye, this time from Rolling Stone: ⁠https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/texas-abortion-bounty-law-ruling-1234802301⁠

Texas abortion ban, lifted for a few hours last week, now heads on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court: ⁠https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192750247/what-just-happened-when-texas-abortion-bans-briefly-lifted-and-what-comes-next⁠

Watch Ted Cruz squirm as he explains voting against a wave of funding for Dallas-area microchip manufacturing: ⁠https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/texas-politics/sen-ted-cruz-explains-vote-against-chips-act-after-tour-of-dallas-county-inland-port/3312776/⁠

Patriot Front finds itself on opposing ends of two lawsuits: ⁠https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2023/08/08/texas-extremist-group-patriot-front-sued-over-boston-attack-of-black-man/⁠

Texas judge orders Southwest Airlines lawyers to undergo training...by an extremist hate group: ⁠https://newrepublic.com/post/174906/texas-judge-orders-airline-lawyers-take-training-far-right-hate-group-adf⁠

A climate change-related migration OUT of Texas may be on the horizon: ⁠https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/heat-climate-change-migration-texas-south-southwest/⁠

Before you flee, plant a tree! Free fruit trees offered in San Antonio this weekend: ⁠https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/outdoors/article/free-trees-san-antonio-parks-18285502.php⁠

Thanks for your support! Learn more about Progress Texas at ⁠https://progresstexas.org/⁠.