Do you ever spend your evenings aimlessly browsing the internet, clicking on whatever links happen to catch your interest? Sometimes it’s a video of a man, in his finest sweatpants and a t-shirt that’s sleeves have been cut off to reveal his tree trunk-like arms, swinging a sledge hammer at a bowling ball. Other times, you find yourself stumbling upon an article describing particular city government officials attempting to strictly regulate, or even end, some of the most genuinely helpful forms of charity. Tonight, I found both.

Members of the City Council of St. Petersburg, Florida are considering placing a ban on feeding homeless people in city parks. This ban is being championed by Karl Nurse, a councilman who apparently believes the city will benefit by punishing the most generous citizens of St. Petersburg, who dare to take pity on those in need. The proposed plan would make it illegal for any individual or group to feed over 25 people at a time, unless that person or group had first obtained a permit. Even if one did, indeed, meet the set requirements and pay any associated fees necessary for the wise local officials to grant a feeding permit, the permit would only allow feeding to occur twice a year and in specifically designated locations.

This week, the Senate floor was witness to a back-and-forth skirmish of political maneuvering and parliamentary gamesmanship between Senator Rand Paul and Senator Harry Reid over the reauthorization of the misnamed, unconstitutional PATRIOT Act.

In the end, Sen. Paul was only successful at getting a debate and a vote on two of the amendments he had proposed to the tyrannical legislation, despite Sen. Reid's promises that there would be a week of debate and an open amendment process, but Sen. Paul's efforts to push the issue as far as he could were valiant and admirable nonetheless.

We've put together a timeline of the blow-by-blow of how it all went down below.  But first, some relevant videos:

Find out if your school provides startup money to newly forming organizations.  If not available on your campus, create an initial plan to raise approximately $150 to purchase essential materials and resources.

It won’t severely limit your chapter’s first few steps, but if you plan to grow a young chapter, you should have a small pool of money to materials to help present your group as professional.  The more a student views your chapter as legitimate, the more likely he or she will join.

A newly formed chapter won’t likely have the necessary experience or personnel at this point to raise significant funds from large donors; however, you can take a few steps to help with initial purchases.

It Starts With You

Consider how much you can donate personally.  Then, approach your other core members to match your investment.  Think about how much money many college students typically spend, outside of their meal-plan or home-cooking, on food and drinks throughout a typical week.  Let’s assume it’s at least $20 (we all know that’s absurdly low).

Imagine if this Friday at 12:01 a.m. all law enforcement officials had to cease their "patriotic" behavior adopted since 9/11. No monitoring your bank account, no sifting through your bag without reasonable suspicion at the subway stop, your phone left free from the tapmaster. Due to the persistence of Senator Rand Paul over the past two days we might experience a taste of real liberty -- even for just a moment's time the Patriot Act could be suspended.

Let's start with a recap: The Patriot Act, signed into law by George W. Bush, was created as a reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Bush administration put together the legislation as a way to better track down terrorists, foreign and domestic, to protect our country from future terrorist attacks. Critics have grown in numbers over the past 5 or so years because the "War on Terror" seemed to turn into the "War on American's Civil Liberties."

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