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| Caribbean island creates innovative source of revenue |
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Today, in a special government press conference, Sir Charles P. Dribcloss Sr., the Honorable Minister of Finances of St.Tosia announced the
establishment of the "Order of the St.Tosian Sovereign Knights of Fortune".
As a new way to bring cash to the government's coffers, and also in an effort to improve the image of St.Tosia with regards to offshore
financing, the Minister had asked the marketing guru on the island, Nandan Mahasundaram, to bring on some innovative suggestions. Nandan
came up with the stunning idea to create a brotherhood order of successful entrepreneurs in the finance industry, enlivened by altruistic
nobleness of spirit and behavior.
In the international community of bankers and investors there is already a noticeable high interest in becoming a Sovereign Knight of Fortune
of this exclusive society of financiers. It makes a mind dazzling impression having this title on one's business card.
Of course, the Knighthood title is tied to a significant contribution of fortune being transferred to St.Tosia. The supreme tenet of the Order
is 'Unconditional Respect for All Wealth without Judgement'. One can only agree that the money has to come from somewhere if an island intends
to keep a virtual tax-free status. Mastermind, Mahasundaram commented off the record: "In other countries where people feel that they are taxed
for nonsense, especially the wealthy are taxed even higher. On St.Tosia, the wealthy are now voluntarily spending large amounts of money on
nonsense, and everyone else can go tax free."
Being member of this Tosiatic Knighthood Order has its moral value, characterized by the spirit of service, sacrifice and discipline of today's
Sovereign Knights of Fortune. Battles are no longer fought with swords, but rather with peaceful monetary tools of protecting wealth.
At today's press conference, in this context and as a memorable ritzy endeavor of displaying professionalism beyond the reasonable doubt,
Finance Minister Dribcloss used a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet: "whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing them". It is questionable whether he himself understands
such a quotation of the world's pre-eminent dramatist but, who dares to question the wisdom in the words of Shakespeare? One of the
journalists at the news conference challenged the honorable figure of authority about his understanding of the quotation and got the
response: "Doubt thee Shakespeare or doubt thee me?"
| "Doubt thee Shakespeare or doubt thee me?" |
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We all know that the expression "Gentlemen of Fortune" is the portrayal of pirates. Piracy of the past in the Caribbean and today's offshore
banking are always brought together. Nandan's reasoning, as that of any other marketing and branding expert would be, is that in order to get
away from that negative image, one should eliminate the run-of-the-mill loosey-goosey label of "Gentlemen" replace with a more dignified,
gracious, and hoity-toity expression, like 'Knights'. Knighthood nature explains and justifies the maintenance of the noble nature of an Order.
By including the word 'Sovereign', an even stronger flair of supremacy is created. Fortune needs to be kept, as it is something that all hope
for and desire. And that is how he came to the idea of "Order of the St.Tosian Sovereign Knights of Fortune".
The Order is governed by the Supreme Grand Master and the Council of Seven Masters. The Supreme Grand Master is the Minister of Finances,
Sir Charles Dribcloss Sr., who expects to be addressed in the meetings of the Order as 'His Most Eminent Highness' which is two steps up
from the ordinary designation 'Honorable Minister' that all his other colleagues in government have.
Depending on the height of the financial contribution, the members of the Order are subdivided into three categories:
- Knights and Dames of Honor and Devotion in Finances
- Knights and Dames of Grace and Devotion in Finances
- Knights and Dames of Magisterial Grace in Finances
And of course, to be accepted as one of the seven Masters of the Council Order, it takes a substantial higher than average donation.
The Cloak and Tunic for all Knights of the Order are designed by and handcrafted on the island by the talented Claire Camarano and her
stepsisters Cleo and Cory who also created several fashion pieces for the contestants of the Miss St.Tosia competitions. Their 74-year-old
grandmother Lucretia helps them with needlework and ironing in their atelier.
| Claire Camarano and her St.Tosia Knight tunic design |
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The creation of the Knight Order turned out to be an opportunity
for the Camaranos to establish a now internationally famed fashion house called 'Camarano Haute Couture' on the island. The humble start-up of their
business was part of a government program to encourage the development of 'home industry', originally called 'cottage industry'. A home
industry serves a market that seeks out original, handcrafted products as opposed to mass-produced name de-luxe brand products that are overpriced.
Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
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