Francisco Blaha

Cutting down the manuscript word-count to fit the journal requirements🤦🏽

I meet my wife at the screening of “Run Lola Run” in the Auckland Film Festival 1998… let say the movie besides being fantastic had a lasting impact in my life ☺️

If only we could get defence type budgets for our wetlands regeneration projects here in Waiheke ☺️

Marshall Islands aims for EU export approval Marshall Islands fisheries authorities and tuna processors are anxiously awaiting the results of a recent EU audit of the country's readiness to meet strict export requirements for fish products.

Part of the work I'm looking forward to continuing this year, as soon as my contract with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade is signed for an extension of my support role with the Marshall Islands Marine Resource Authority
www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...

Oil prices expected to surge over US$100/barrel this week…

Come and see us at the waiheke bikehub

NZ graduates being pushed, not pulled, to Australia

Week in Review:
Recruitment agency data indicates early-career opportunities really are more plentiful across the ditch.

YouTube video by BBC Earth Science The Remarkable Science of Sound | Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics | BBC Earth Science

Well, look at that. My BBC documentary on the science of sound from years ago has just popped up on the BBC Earth Science channel. If you fancy some cool sound science in your day, here you go:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_u...

Fisheries expert questions data suggesting Chinese trawlers engaged in military exercises A researcher has refuted recent reports that suggested Chinese fishing vessels are being mobilized for military exercises.

Context is everything when analysing fisheries fleet dynamics trough Maritime Domain Analysis Tools
www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-...

Dave Rennie possesses the most important attribute for an All Blacks coach All the best All Blacks coaches look more or less permanently like they've just watched someone open-mouth sneezing into their meal.

Flick back through the annals of All Blacks history. Our coaches have espoused different philosophies…. But the one thing uniting the best of the best is that they perpetually look like someone just farted noisily at the dinner table next to them.

Superb

thespinoff.co.nz/sports/04-03...

Changing times… Rugby is becoming more interesting

YouTube video by A24 Everything Everywhere All At Once | Official Trailer HD | A24

youtu.be/wxN1T1uxQ2g?...

YouTube video by Warner Bros. Pictures Argentina “Relatos salvajes”. Trailer 10 años. Oficial Warner Bros. Pictures (HD/SUB)

Wild tales / relatos salvajes

youtu.be/NkW3f2gZX2U?...

Messi censured for meeting and applauding Trump amid US attacks on Iran Inter Miami and Messi were honoured at the White House, where Trump boasted the US military’s might.

Que miras, bobo! aje.news/1uafub

The US sank an Iranian warship and didn’t rescue the survivors. Is this legal in war? These rules have developed over centuries as states sought to regulate the conduct of conflict at sea while still allowing navies to operate effectively.

Under the Second Geneva Convention of 1949, parties to a conflict must – after each engagement – take all possible measures to search for and collect the shipwrecked, wounded and sick.

These rules apply to naval warfare

theconversation.com/the-us-sank-...

Cost to US for war on Iran is $3.7bn in first 100 hours, says think tank Most of the costs are not budgeted for, meaning the Pentagon will need to request more funding soon, researchers say.

Health, education, housing, homelessness, addictions, culture, etc… all of those need more budget… but this is where the world decides to spend 🥺
aje.news/0ez0ui

Under cover of Iran war, Israeli settlers terrorise Palestinian villages Amid rocket sirens and explosions in the sky, the regional war feels distant compared to the terror on the ground.

aje.news/k13bly

The Ensh*ttificator Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved…

vimeo.com/1168468796?f...

Government considering scrapping entire clean car standard An EV advocate says if the proposal goes ahead, Kiwis will be sold "the high-emitting leftovers" that manufacturers can no longer sell in Australia.

This government is right on the mark in terms of enshittification… whatever’s was a good thing is their shin to make it a bit shittier… see the 1st the comment for an explanation
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

TVNZ board chair rang senior minister to discuss negative coverage Justice minister won't reveal exactly what the public broadcaster's board chair said, while police minister doubles down on concerns about bias.

Right-wing commentators were *obsessed* with what they fancied was the former Labour govt's control of the media. Yet now we have what looks like direct political interference with reporting that ministers didn't like. Far out. newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/04/t...

This cartoon from @derspiegel shows the world as seen by Trump. It's a new take on an old cartoon premise. I live on the Idiots island. Source: buff.ly/hvd2Bys

The Ensh*ttificator Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved…

The Norway Consumer Council is so on the ball with this! Absolutely love it vimeo.com/1168468796?f...

There you go…. Pusillanimous is actually a word in English too… English is such a bipolar language… the Saxon vulgar of “dark” is synonymous with cultured Latin “obscure”… And “lacking courage and resolution” does fits the idea!

There you go…. Pusillanimous is actually a word in English too… English is such a bipolar language… the Saxon vulgar of “dark” is synonymous with cultured Latin “obscure”

5$ word! Love it

Christopher Luxon forced into another correction over Iran war visas The Greens say the prime minister "snuck" into the House "late last night" to correct the record.

I miss some cool Spanish words with no real translation to English when it comes to this guy… today’s one is : “pusilánime”… it comes from Latin pusillus (small) + animus (spirit). It literally means “small-spirited.”

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

I miss some cool Spanish words with no real translation to English when it comes to this guy… today’s one is : “pusilánime”… it comes from Latin pusillus (small) + animus (spirit). It literally means “small-spirited.”

Philippe Gaulier refused to tolerate boring people The world-famous clowning teacher died on February 9th, aged 82

Everyone is bad at some point.
The cardinal sin, the unforgivable, is to be boring.

economist.com/obituary/202...

The Roughest Form of Ballet: Masculinity and Risks on Tuna Fishing boats — Francisco Blaha At the end of 2024, Victoria M. Syddall , the author of the paper I’m sharing here and with whom I had previously collaborated on her work on gender and fisheries, approached me for an interview for ...

I really appreciate that this paper neither romanticises nor demonises fishers. It explores our complexities. In tuna fishing across the WCPO (and I assume the world), they are positioned actors within complex systems of power, race, contract, and hierarchy.
www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/3/...

What has been NZ long standing position is to respect the international rules-based order; supporting a unilateral invasion of a country (independent of how bad its government is) without the concerted agreement of the UN is not what NZ has ever stood for.

I’ll be happy to agree to a ban of trawl in the inner Hauraki Gulf (HG) by declaring most of it a MPA and only allowing motorised recreational fishing in the present trawl corridors, plus the 5 ring setters. If most of the HG is a no take zone for any kind of fishing, only then we have restoration