Let’s see more fear: Take 2!

Maybe you had to be there, but the photo in Thursday’s Star-Advertiser of several hundred movie extras running at night down Lewers Street in Waikiki looked more like people running a marathan than fleeing the legendary movie monster Godzilla.

No looks of abject fear, nobody screaming, nobody stumbling or falling, no children or teens, no street bums, hookers or buskers.

Could we get a little more real here, please?

Oh, wait … it’s a movie about a giant lizard rampaging through Waikiki. Never mind. No doubt the movie magicians will make it look more scary on the screen.

New jobs another Obamacare effect

The clearest visual testiment to the challenges of implementing Obamacare is the fact that insurance carriers are spending money — $2 million, in this case — to help consumers through their initiation.

Hawaii Medical Service Association is not alone in seeing the value of opening retail centers to help with this. Bernard Health in Tennessee plans storefronts where people can walk in and get advice for a fee. They think folks will be happy to pay, rather than deal with any free information offered by the government.

HMSA, its executives say, is not treating this as a revenue opportunity, but as a needed increase in its face-to-face encounters with members. The locations will be at its Keeaumoku Street headquarters, Pearl City Gateway and Waiakea Center in Hilo and will employ 27. New jobs are good — especially if they come with health insurance.