Happy Independence Day (weekend)!

• Rick Perry nearing decision on presidential run – Byron York, Washington Examiner
• Perry Cements His Reputation As a Powerful Governor – Jay Root, Texas Tribune
• Will Rick Perry run for president? Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post
• Obama signs disaster aid for parts of Texas hit by wildfires – Jim Vertuno, AP
• Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Disaster Request Approval
• John Feehery said what about Rick Perry? – Perry vs World
• Texas urges U.S. citizens to avoid Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, this weekend – Fort Worth Star Telegram
• Why there's no messing with Texas – Emanuella Grinberg, CNN.com
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. readies for layoffs – Kate Alexander, Postcards
• Cargill named chairwoman of State Bd. of Ed. – Kate Alexander, Postcards
• The Legislature has made its marks – Patricia Kilday Hart, San Antonio Express-News
  

  While [the state’s lockstep political media*,] public school teachers, higher education officials, physicians’ organizations and advocates for the poor may deem the 82nd Legislature a disaster, the state’s top three leaders [and taxpayers*] walk away from the 170-day marathon as clear winners.

  * Edited by Texas Iconoclast to improve accuracy.

• Perry Chooses New Forensic Science Board Chairman – Brandi Grissom, Texas Tribune
  

  Perry abruptly ended the service of three commissioners….

  Their terms had expired, and the governor was fully within his constitutional authority to act as he did. One understands that anti-death-penalty activists and Perry critics love to omit or downplay these facts. Professional journalists should not.

• Abortion rights group asks court to halt Texas sonogram law – Aman Batheja, PoliTex
  

  In a statement filed with the injunction, San Antonio Physician Alan Braid said the new law is confusing on multiple fronts for abortion providers such as him

  “My job is not to make the patient feel guilty about her choice or force information on her that she does not want; my job is to care for the patient, act in her best interests, and respect her autonomy,” Braid writes. “To provide her information that she does not want and that may cause her harm is certainly against my oath as a physician to ‘do no harm.'”

  It seems strange for someone who makes a living “aborting” defenseless life to lecture anyone on the mandates of the Hippocratic oath.