A little spider provides
inspiration for new year
On New Year’s Day, my family noticed that a garden spider had spun its web within the outer frame of our kitchen window. This particular spider spins classic orb webs, with lightning bolts near the center.
We asked AI about spiders, and after a few electronic clicking noises, we were informed that spider webs are gram for gram stronger than steel, have been found in amber dating back 100 million years, and are used for communication as well as catching prey.
A spider can repair or undo its web, often consuming the silk, which is a reserve of amino acids, lipids and vitamin K. We also learned that the intricate designs of webs can symbolize inner creativity and the weaving of complex patterns, or relationships from seemingly unrelated things.
When my husband first pointed out the spider, I thought, “Oh, no. Those are the kind that bite.”
This thought carried some weight because my mental to-do list now included Put Away Christmas Decorations and Relocate Biting Spider. However, after learning about spiders, their webs and what they may symbolize, I now think it is pretty cool that this amazing creature appeared at a time of fresh starts when the creative energy to invest in or shed relationships and activities surges.
Thanks to the little spider for inspiration. I plan to move it away from the house, because AI also explained that at roughly the size of a quarter, this spider is quite young and can grow to be two to three times its current size. Still cool, though.
Sharon F. Wong
Hilo
Trump is dangerous because
he is irrational, unpredictable
Thomas Beach from Waimea has said it as it is (Your Views, Jan. 16). But let us analyze that a little further.
Trump is not interested in governing; he enjoys fighting. But not honest fighting for a good cause, such as defending our country; instead, punching where it hurts, under the belt, in the guts.
He thrives on crime, hatred, anger and frustration. There is no system in him, and that’s the most effective system he employs — asymmetrical warfare. Pitting everyone against everyone else. Creating fear, protest, fury, and causing harm to everyone except his loyal minions.
He has mastered the language of a hypnotist and is slippery like a fish in his speeches. For him, there is only one truth, his own, nothing else counts. He has no moral spine and gains so much power because of his massive ego. This means, he is irrational and unpredictable, which makes him more dangerous.
Hitler was a different kind of dictator, a man with a grand though evil vision for Germany, and he managed to inspire millions with that ideology leading them all down the rabbit hole, or the abyss of World War II.
However, I am still hopeful and believe in the American values and ethical standards as enshrined in the Constitution. In contrast to Hitler-Germany in 1933, the U.S. still has extensive media coverage, and our letters to the editor speak volumes about our collective resolve not to let the demise of our great country happen because just of one man who has no respect for anyone but himself.
Look at Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a direct target of JD Vance and Pete Hegseth — Trump’s Goebbels and Göring — in their vicious fight against honesty, truth and justice. Kelly is standing up, and so must we, either in words or actions (voting, protests). Our freedom is at stake.
Albrecht Classen
Hilo
