Justin Benttinen's Avatar

Justin Benttinen

@benttinen

Artist/photographer. Keeper of knowledge. Philosopher of sorts; prophet on occasion. Hilariously published scientist. Let’s talk about bugs. 请你教我说中文。 All photos mine unless stated otherwise. IG @benttinen

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07.07.2023
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Latest posts by Justin Benttinen @benttinen

People are going to try and lure you into debates about whether Maduro was a good guy or not and the thing is, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of discussing whether violent kidnappings and extrajudicial murders by the US government are ok. No, they aren’t! End of convo.

03.01.2026 14:01 👍 19896 🔁 5768 💬 52 📌 232

And they‘re all such overt creepy losers. Subormals.

14.10.2025 19:21 👍 1687 🔁 282 💬 148 📌 15
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A disturbed man and his fanatical advisors are making potentially life-threatening decisions on the basis of what he sees on television.

We should all be very concerned. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-trump-gets-and-processes-information

06.10.2025 15:12 👍 2085 🔁 734 💬 118 📌 43

Lost me at “hun”

25.09.2025 22:48 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0

these kids aren't Alex Jones or Steve Bannon. the dude who fired at an ICE van and shot himself was not engaged in a cunning long term political gambit.

The term "non-political" here means their motivation was not in furtherance of some sort of cohesive partisan project. they did it for the lulz.

25.09.2025 05:32 👍 1805 🔁 210 💬 48 📌 6

The anomalously warm seawater is probably helping make convection possible.

25.09.2025 07:47 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Actual thunder in the Bay Area. Such a rare treat.

25.09.2025 07:26 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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The gap between teacher pay and other college graduates’ pay is the highest it’s been in over four decades.

Is there a “teacher shortage,” or a shortage of jobs that treat educators with the pay, dignity, and support they deserve?

24.09.2025 23:00 👍 1804 🔁 528 💬 79 📌 35

Thanks I like to think I occasionally have a knack for the naming of things.

25.09.2025 06:05 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We should start calling them “kinetic shitposts” to differentiate them from bog standard stochastic terrorism. Not a phrase I ever thought I’d come up with but hey it’s 2025 we can live a little.

25.09.2025 05:03 👍 74 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 1

That is still possible but it also feels strongly of shitpost.

25.09.2025 04:32 👍 18 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Yeah the writing on the ammo reeked of winking irony. It was too on the nose.

25.09.2025 04:26 👍 26 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0

They seem to bite them off and then just get under the skin.

25.09.2025 00:44 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
ICE Is Deporting People to Africa on Nearly Un-Trackable Military Flights Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is deporting people to African countries like Ghana on military flights that are nearly un-trackable.

It’s likely that this happened to them, in which case, again, this should be much bigger news. We can’t just disappear thousands of people without notifying anyone

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

23.09.2025 17:42 👍 2997 🔁 1173 💬 65 📌 42

It’s pretty wild watching the otters hunt them. Sad to see them die, but the otters have to eat and they’re obligate carnivores.

24.09.2025 04:07 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Post image Post image Post image

A northern river otter carrying a pelican that she caught and killed for her babies in Marin County, CA. I’ve added a photo of more otters eating a pelican. 🪶🦊

24.09.2025 03:20 👍 17 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0

That any of us have to care about the messy breakup of these two massive narcissists — and that they both individually wield such massive power — is an indictment of our political system and further proves the poisonous influence of Big Money on our democracy.

05.06.2025 23:45 👍 23290 🔁 4960 💬 612 📌 243

The Trump-GOP tax bill proposal:

-Extend 2017 cuts for top earners
-Increase the "pass-through" loophole for big businesses
-Expand the estate tax exemption for the ultra-rich
-Make a huge tax break for offshore corporate profits permanent

Trickle down economics on steroids.

12.05.2025 18:32 👍 1131 🔁 365 💬 67 📌 22

there is no fact-based evaluation that does not hold George W. Bush and Barack Obama partly responsible for where we are with Trump. For decades we let these guys extend the power of the executive and no one with power ever pushed back. We are reaping those consequences now.

15.04.2025 06:57 👍 3352 🔁 590 💬 58 📌 15
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Senator Booker: What kind of man is in the white house that makes fun of the disabled, who lies so much that the fact checkers lose count, that minimizes the pain and the suffering

01.04.2025 05:10 👍 49977 🔁 11450 💬 1041 📌 716

I know right! Almost as gorgeous as the rule of law.

01.04.2025 20:08 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Look at this cute little boy! It's a male Anna's Hummingbird! He has a purple face and green body feathers. The background is a smooth green. He is standing on dried out flower remnants.
🪶

Kilmar Arbrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011 from El Salvador and is a legal resident protected by a 2019 court order.

The Trump administration deported him to a concentration camp anyway and lies about being able to return him.

Look at this cute little boy! It's a male Anna's Hummingbird! He has a purple face and green body feathers. The background is a smooth green. He is standing on dried out flower remnants. 🪶 Kilmar Arbrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011 from El Salvador and is a legal resident protected by a 2019 court order. The Trump administration deported him to a concentration camp anyway and lies about being able to return him.

Look at this cute little boy! It's a male Anna's Hummingbird!
🪶

Kilmar Arbrego Garcia is a legal resident protected by a 2019 court order.

The Trump regime deported him to a concentration camp anyway and lies about not being able to return him. The can return him at any time. This is a tactic.

01.04.2025 20:02 👍 11 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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✅ ❌ ✅

❌ ✅ ❌

✅ ✅ ❌

30.03.2025 20:03 👍 28129 🔁 1913 💬 1244 📌 185

America has never been subject to this level of authoritarianism, and quite frankly, sheer incompetence.

Out of the ashes, this moment should radicalize us to embark on an era of new reform — of our economy, our democracy, and our commitment to social justice and the law.

31.03.2025 18:01 👍 28096 🔁 6712 💬 919 📌 324

Signal is the gold standard for a reason. It’s good. If your phone isn’t owned by an adversary it’s the best there is on the civilian market.

28.03.2025 16:18 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Note to editors and producers: If an executive order demands action that is illegal or outside of the president’s authority, then you should not describe it as ordering something. You should say it seeks to achieve some outcome and then note it is illegal or beyond the power of the president.

28.03.2025 05:20 👍 19539 🔁 5645 💬 352 📌 312

Every tyrant in history has sought to stifle criticism of himself and his regime.

But America was founded on criticism.

American democracy was built on dissent.

Every institution, group, firm, or individual that surrenders to Trump’s wanton tyranny invites more of it.

27.03.2025 20:01 👍 2239 🔁 487 💬 45 📌 20
The recent kidnappings of students in the USA are part of a preemptive strategy to prevent mass uprisings against the current regime. They know that uprisings start on college campuses so they are targeting the vulnerable members of academia in order to set a precedent.

The recent kidnappings of students in the USA are part of a preemptive strategy to prevent mass uprisings against the current regime. They know that uprisings start on college campuses so they are targeting the vulnerable members of academia in order to set a precedent.

🪶A Pied Grebe with ripples.

The recent kidnappings of students in the USA are part of a preemptive strategy to prevent mass uprisings against the current regime. They know that uprisings start on college campuses so they are targeting the vulnerable members of academia in order to set a precedent.

28.03.2025 00:49 👍 13 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Come to the United States, where you’ll be kidnapped in broad daylight because you wrote an op-ed.

26.03.2025 18:11 👍 8647 🔁 1816 💬 141 📌 57

The idea that hypocrisy exists as something that matters to these people is an exercise in futility. We need to develop more effective lines of attack.

25.03.2025 10:37 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0