Say it isn't so. In explaining the etymology of the newly coined "spillionaire " though, a Washington Post article reveals just how New Orleans and local area citizens "raped" BP with inflated and bogus claims incidental to the corporation's catastrophic oil spill (in http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/c.jsp?item=http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fnational%2fspillionaires-are-the-new-rich-after-bp-oil-spill-payouts%2f2011%2f04%2f11%2fAFjaqsWD_mobile.xml&cid=578815&spf=1). According to findings of the ProPublica reporters probing into this case, the villains are crony contractors, public officials with finely tuned profit motives, and average citizens looking to cash in at the first sign of anyone else's cash being dispensed in exchange for a hard-luck story -- all lusty participants in the swindling competition to see who can take away the most money in the shortest time. Even a municipal homeland security director -- perhaps a misapplied title, since true managers seldom draw overtime pay -- managed to secure over $20,000 in BP-funded OT for doing his job for a few weeks.
The aggressive and predatory impulse runs free when unchecked by leadership or countervailing example. While the stories of the spillionaires would appear to reaffirm Louisiana's reputation for leading edge hospitality in all matters dealing with pecuniary embroidery, the really interesting part of the story for security practitioners is that a county executive was the one to give voice to misgivings. He feels bad about the abusive claims, and this is the essential starting point for any corrective audit or redress.
And so a ray of light pierces through the pogonip of crooks and cronies otherwise bottling swamp water and selling it as champagne.
-- Nick Catrantzos
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Nick Catrantzos + Tom Goff
- All Secure
- NICK CATRANTZOS is the lead author of the All Secure website and is the emeritus security director for a large public organization. He has also managed security aspects of corporate takeovers, response to international hostage situations, and finding and keeping secrets. He has been board certified in security management, licensed as a private investigator, and certified as an incident commander. He worked as a case officer for a discreet branch of public service. He protected stealth technology at Lockheed and, later, as a consulting security director for both Kroll and Control Risks, he assisted executives with workplace violence cases and with protecting VIPs and critical assets globally in volatile areas. Nick's partner, TOM GOFF, was a captain in the Military Police Corps, U.S. Army Reserve and has a law degree from the University of California at Davis. He is a former reporter for Fortune Magazine, was senior editor at New York Magazine and Esquire, and has provided crisis and communications counsel to senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, including Lockheed, ARCO, Microsoft, Nissan, and Sony Pictures.