The Sac Bee's Torey Van Oot is on the ground in Tampa at the Republican National Convention, closely following the California delegation. She's been tweeting out photos of the scene on the convention floor, including California congressional candidate Ricky Gill. Gill is largely seen as a bright up-in-coming figure in California for conservatives and was featured heavily in youth and minority outreach programming at the CAGOP convention. He's running in Congressional District 9, against Rep. Jerry McNerney.

National Geographic says our new extreme weather is due both to normal fluctuations and climate change but that climate climate may be the precipitating factor. They conclude that we, as a planet, need to act now to save lives and money.

Minutes before the Empire State Building shooting on Friday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg discussed the need for stricter and reinforced gun control laws across the nation.

Rep. Michele Bachmann has always been vocal about her religion, but her recent comments have caused speculation within the political community. At a prayer rally on Sunday, Bachmann addressed the inclement weather in Florida:

Latino voters could swing election results this November, and the data revealing this are pretty dramatic. The Center for American Progress has a fascinating infographic with the following commentary on Latino voter influence on election results.