The Ukraine War has stimulated a rise in democracy.  For one, European countries are now united for the first time in a long time.  Combined, their defense ( meaning also offense ) budgets will rise over the next few years to box Russia.  This will lead the USA to somewhat disengage from that continent to focus on Asia and the Pacific.  Hawaii will return to be strategically important. My outing this week was to the 130th anniversary celebration of the Ewa Sugar Plantation.  Brought back memories, for my professional life began as a factory engineer at the Hutchinson Sugar Company in the southernmost community in the U.S., Naalehu. Interestingly enough, this industry has been here for almost 200 years, for the first recorded planting of sugar cane was Manoa Valley in 1825, where I've had an office at  the University of Hawaii for 50 years.  While that effort failed, the first actual sugar plantation was started in 1835 in Koloa, Kauai, where my father ...