TRAFFIC SAFETY

LAW BARS COLLECTING MONEY ON ROADWAYS

Thank you, Heather Corcoran, for your letter (March 14).

There is a state law regarding your concern. It is Traffic Code 291C-77, which states it is illegal for pedestrians to solicit "rides, business or the attention of the motorist."

Parents or elders should teach children at an early age to work for the money that is needed for whatever reason, rather than to stand at a street intersection and beg for it.

More important, the message that is being sent is that it's OK to walk in the street and around traffic to collect money or other items, such as food, etc.

This goes against what the state and city are trying to promote to the public about being out of crosswalks or jaywalking, a subject that is now in the news.

In the future, if you see this soliciting going on, call the police and have them enforce this code. Give them the code number. It is their job to enforce it, whoever is raising money.

We don't want to wait until a keiki gets run over by a truck because the driver didn't see the keiki dart out of the way when the light turned green.

TRANSIT

CITY, COUNCIL CAN'T GET THEIR STORIES STRAIGHT

It is sad indeed that the city administration and the City Council can't seem to get their stories straight.

The city maintains it always intended to add positions for the transit system.

The council maintains these positions were slipped in on the sly.

They are both probably dodging the truth. The best and logical answer would be to add the positions as temporary positions to be deleted when the project gets off the ground.

The city says they are needed for planning and permitting. I thought the planning was essentially done, and don't we already have a permitting department? The city will accept this if it truly needs these positions to get the system up and running.

COUNCILMEMBER DJOU SEEN AS VOICE OF REASON

In his letter to The Advertiser, the mayor's press secretary, Bill Brennan, purports to review and comment on Charles Djou's thoughtful commentary in the Focus section on March 18 concerning the ongoing rail transit debate and his doubts about the current plan.

Mr. Djou's commentary appeared opposite a commentary by Gary Okino, who supports the plan.

Mr. Brennan begins his letter by referring to Djou's commentary as a "diatribe, unsubstantiated and way off base."

It sounds a lot like the article he wrote last year with the heading "Cliff Slater doesn't know what he is talking about."

In his zeal to defend the mayor's pet project, he stoops to insult and character assassination when what is called for is honest debate and a great deal more information to the taxpaying public, who may or may not benefit from the train.

So we want all the details, and let's hear more about those "backroom deals and payoffs," especially the proof that none exist.

As for people in Mr. Djou's district, where I also reside, I have heard no one complain about his "whining."

On the contrary, we regard Mr. Djou as our voice of reason at the City Council. Most of us supported his bill to delay collection of the tax increase and do not regard him as an "obstructionist" for asking the hard questions.

TERRORISM

DETAINEES' POLICY PUTS AMERICA ON LOSING END

The Pentagon recently announced the confessional statements of two men, Walid bin Attash and Khalid Sheihk Mohammed, who have been held for months, some of it secretly, in CIA custody.

According to the CIA's Web site, the job of the CIA director is to collect "intelligence through human sources and by other appropriate means, except that he shall have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers or internal security functions."

I wonder if the CIA deemed it necessary to employ "appropriate means" to collect the statements made by Mohammed and Attash and what those means might have been? In the Pentagon's transcript of Mohammed's hearing, he reportedly mentions that he was tortured while being held in a secret CIA prison. Apparently, much of that part of the transcript was censored.

How terrible it is that we are denying foreigners one of our own core rights, habeas corpus. That we do so is a sign of insecurity and leaves me with a morally icky feeling.

Ultimately, America is bound to be on the losing end of this policy.