Tag Archives: Trolls

Some rare music news, and troll insurance

Happy new year! I spent it back home in Vegas with some of my former colleagues from UNLV, which was very nice, however there were some very sad musical moments as I attended Motley Crue’s last concert ever in Vegas, which was fantastic, but overwhelmingly bittersweet as three days later, on New Year’s Eve, they would play their last concert ever. I grew up with them, having first seen them in 1982, then again at the US Festival in 1983, and many more times during the last 37 years, as well as having many conversations, experiences, and memories that they were somehow involved in.

To see so many tattooed, leather-clad, long-haired heavy metal fans, myself included, have tears in their eyes as the band sang Home Sweet Home for the last time was a beautiful and impactful experience, one I will never forget and once again, a Crue-involved memory was etched into my brain.

But their show was absolutely fantastic, everything an arena show from a legendary rock band should be. Don’t believe it? Dig this:

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Now this is a show

More sad news came with the death of the iconic and legendary Motorhead founder and frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Reaction from the pinnacles of rock and roll including Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons, Metallica, and Dave Mustaine to name just a small few, show how impactful he was. As my dear friend and fellow heavy metal fanatic said, he lived the life of ten men and regretted none of it.

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Lemmy; the man, the legend 

But hey, if you’re not the consummate badass that is Lemmy, or the members of Motley Crue, that’s ok. If you think you may need some help when your feelings get hurt or counseling when someone calls you a bad name online, then your moment has come. The Chubb group is offering insurance against online trolls, and the very real problem of cyber-bullying.

They will cover expenses related to cyber-bullying and trolling, including therapy, relocation expenses, even PR reps to sanitize your reputation if it is sullied by others, all to the tune of (up to) $75,000. Its main audience is kids, however it will also protect against job loss as a result of online attacks.

I’m surprised it took this long. Online harassment and bullying can be a real problem reagrdless of my snarky comments above, and can lead to irreversible, serious consequences including suicide. Perhaps something like this will give people some hope and an avenue of help if harassment occurs.

Even so, I could also see it being abused. Real harassment, real abuse, can be devastating. On the other hand, some people are just thin skinned. What remains unclear is how to determine what is real harassment and what is the online equivalent of crying whiplash after a fender bender.