This week in 1963 America lost a hero, our President John F. Kennedy.

But his legacy lives on in the lives of those who remember his famed inaugural sentence: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

From that challenge to the youth of America, many of us joined the Peace Corps and always thought of ways of giving back to the nation that had given us so much. If America is ever to be great again, we must re-establish the Kennedy notion that no one is beholden to the government for their well-being, but all should try to contribute to make America a better place than we found it.

Rep. Gene Ward

Former Peace Corps volunteer

Bannon’s new post is cause for alarm

President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon as senior adviser and chief strategist is very, very worrisome.

Bannon presided over Breitbart News, an online news site, where he provided a platform for racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, Islamophobic and misogynistic views. These views are not the views of most Americans.

I am shocked that he will have an office steps away from the Oval Office. His appointment is a step toward normalizing these harmful, provocative and outrageous views. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defama- tion League, and the Council on American Islamic Relations all expressed concern about his appointment.

We and our elected officials should protest Bannon’s appointment until Trump rescinds it.

Allan Willinger

Manoa

As on Dec. 7, 1941, America is in peril

Seventy-five years after Pearl Harbor, it seems we have not learned from it.

About Pearl Harbor, we said that it would never happen again, that we would never be caught flat-footed again, that we would not allow ourselves to be surprised.

Then 9/11 happened despite the earlier unsuccessful attack on the same towers and public warnings from the perpetrators.

Thousands died at Pearl Harbor. Thousands died when the twin towers came crashing down. Mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters died; lives crushed, nearly all of them our beloved Americans.

Now our leaders are afraid to even name our enemies and our military is degraded. Surprise has been and is our enemies’ greatest weapon. When will lost lives, our tears and the blood of patriots steel our resolve?

This Dec. 7 will be an opportunity to pick ourselves up and recognize that our nation and our children are in mortal danger. God help us if we fail.

Nelson S.W. Chang

Kaneohe

Political pessimists should cheer up

Donald Trump’s election was not a James Bond movie. Since when did our public lose sight of reality because of selfishness and ignorance?

The last time I checked we have a Bill of Rights, a Constitution and a establishment called Congress. How do all these anti- Trump protesters know the future, when the polls were all wrong for this election?

If we had more positive people instead of negative pessimists in this world, maybe our country would be a better place. The end of our country is not here despite what the media tells you or you choose to believe. Remember who President Ronald Reagan was — an actor.

We need more people to embrace positive energy to move forward, instead of using violence and destruction to get their message across.

Garrick Kashiwa

Kaneohe

Trump deepened our national divide

Donald Trump created division through his words and actions. Falsehoods and bigotry were out front throughout his campaign. He thus exposed the bad and often hidden side of America. Now he is saying he will be president for all and asks for unity?

Colin Powell reportedly told George W. Bush that you start the war, you own it. Disunity is on Trump — he needs to fix it.

The Republican Congress was my way or the highway — make President Barack Obama fail. That is not unity. That is not making America great. That is not serving America.

Is Trump going to be part of the problem or part of the solution? We shall see. I don’t like the looks of things, and it hasn’t even started.

Richard Abe

Punchbowl

Balmy temperature in Arctic is ominous

As of Nov. 17, the temperature in the Arctic was 36 degrees above the average for this time of year. Also, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean at this time of year is at an all-time low.

Is anybody concerned? Oil companies? Politicians? News media? Americans?

President-elect Donald Trump, are you paying attention?

Jan Pappas

Aiea

E-sports offer youth new playing fields

A small community of E-sports players and fanatics have recently emerged from Hawaii’s high schools, resulting in several high school E-sports teams appearing across the islands.

E-sports are, put simply, video games played at a competitive level. Some of these games, like League of Legends, have even been implemented into the athletic programs of many mainland colleges.

Across the world, E-sports has been a growing community and continues to evolve, even receiving the same coverage as traditional sports in some places.

Many professional E-sports talents came from Hawaii and moved on into some of the most successful E-sports organizations, inspiring students to excel at these video games.

Many E-sports teams have appeared across the island, including Damien Memorial School’s Monarch eSports and Roosevelt’s eSports Club. In Hawaii, this E-sports community will alter the face of Hawaii’s high schools forever.

Justice Cabantangan

Founder and president of Monarch eSports