Rhode Island Foundation mounts annual hunt for genius innovators

I nominate Mike Chambers

Got that Red Sox fever!

By Will Collette

I keep looking for opportunities befitting the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) Party’s most prolific blogger, Mike Chambers. Even though he just received a political appointment from the CCA Party majority on the Town Council to the Zoning Board, he still seems to have a lot of time on his hands for his writing and intellectual pursuits.

Just over a year ago, I recommended him for an aspiring writers fellowship, a competition that was sponsored by the Rhode Island Foundation. It seemed perfect for Mike’s terrific talent at writing political fiction. But apparently he didn’t follow through on this golden opportunity.

Maybe the amount of the fellowship, $25,000, was too small to pique Mike’s interest. How about $300,000? That’s the amount being offered to the two people who win this year’s Innovation Fellowship.

The fellowship is underwritten by philanthropists Letitia and John Carter to the applicants who can “develop, test and implement innovative ideas that have the potential to dramatically improve any area of life in Rhode Island.” It is also being administered by the Rhode Island Foundation.

I can’t think of a deeper thinker of deep thoughts. who has such a scope of knowledge that he is easily Charlestown’s greatest expert on everything, than Mike Chambers.

He demonstrates that capacity every time he stands up to speak or uses the written medium to enlighten and inform.

Most recently, he uncovered the secret threat posed by humor and Progressive Charlestown. Those of us who write for Progressive Charlestown thought we had hidden our nefarious connections so well that they’d never be uncovered. But once again, we underestimated Mike Chambers.

This show, which went off the air in 2004, still inspires
Mike's deep thoughts

In a dazzling display of acumen, Chambers did exhaustive research which consisted of watching a cable re-run of a 10+ year-old episode of Bill Curtis’s Investigative Reports on the A&E Network on neo-Nazi Skinheads. Curtis’s series ended in 2004; I think its old time slot is currently occupied by Duck Dynasty. But anyway, according to Chambers, these neo-Nazis used caricatures to make fun of their foes.

He then proceeded to reveal that Progressive Charlestown also uses caricatures to lampoon its opponents.

Using impeccable logic, Chambers establishes that since neo-Nazis use caricatures and Progressive Charlestown uses caricatures, therefore, ipso facto e pluribus Unum caveat emptor, Progressive Charlestown equals neo-Nazi. It’s all there on display on the CCA Party’s website.

How can we not want to reward such brilliance?  An intellectual with the brainpower of Mike Chambers is too much for Charlestown to keep for itself.

The use of cartoons makes Progressive Charlestown, according to
Mike Chambers, just like neo-Nazis. Talk about an Investigative Report!

It’s so wonderfully liberating to see that once discredited logic tool, the false syllogism, being brought back into use. In the years that it’s been relegated to the same drawer holding the Flat Earth theory, we've suffered from not being able to use it to resolve some of the puzzling questions of the day.

Here’s an example of how you can use it in everyday life:  Tea Party state Representative Doreen Costa is a wild and crazy Red Sox fan. Mike Chambers is a wild and crazy Red Sox fan. Therefore Doreen Costa is really Mike Chambers in drag. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. See how well false syllogism works?

Innovation starts with big ideas, and Mike’s got plenty of those. Even if people think you’re an idiot or that you don’t know what you’re talking about or that everything you say is wrong, it’s having those big ideas that count. That’s why I encourage Charlestown to get behind getting Mike selected by the Rhode Island Foundation as one of its 2014 genius innovators.

The deadline for applications is December 13. Click here for information on how to apply.