Jared Holt
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jaredlholt.bsky.social
Jared Holt
@jaredlholt.bsky.social
Senior researcher at @openmeasures.bsky.social

Co-host of "Posting Through It," a weekly podcast: https://www.patreon.com/PostingThroughIt
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On this week's PTI premium episode, we reviewed how TPUSA's "All-American Halftime Show" came into existence and the fractures it illuminated across MAGA media.

Sign up for our Patreon to access this one (and 23 other premium episodes). Support independent media!
www.patreon.com/posts/079-su...
079: A Super Bowl to Call Our Own | Posting Through It
Get more from Posting Through It on Patreon
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Reposted by Jared Holt
On this week's PTI premium episode, we reviewed how TPUSA's "All-American Halftime Show" came into existence and the fractures it illuminated across MAGA media.

Sign up for our Patreon to access this one (and 23 other premium episodes). Support independent media!
www.patreon.com/posts/079-su...
079: A Super Bowl to Call Our Own | Posting Through It
Get more from Posting Through It on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Generative AI can do that stuff and more, looking at the image, computing along the lines of “what sort of looks like that?”, and then painting in new details. That can be great when I’m taking blemishes out of a portrait, but it has no place being used to “investigate” anything. It’s not magic.
February 12, 2026 at 10:10 PM
If you’ve got an ultra blurry or a low-res image there is a real limit to what you can salvage from it. You might have better luck with a high-res file, since you’ve got more information to try to emphasis details with. The software is basically just doing math problems on the pixel level
February 12, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Enlarging generates new pixels. A standard enlargement does this with a formula so it basically prints copies of what already exists. Sharpening increases contrast between pixels to create the illusion of a “clearer” image. It can be useful but the material still has to exist in the first place.
February 12, 2026 at 10:04 PM
There is no tool that "enhances" images the way they do on TV crime dramas. Period. An image file either has that information in it or it does not.

The way these tools work is taking the photo you feed it and hallucinating a new one. Fine if you want a pretty picture, but NOT an investigative tool
February 12, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Really smart take here. A good amount of harm that generative AI is producing in modern society is coming from the fact that a ton of people (sometimes including police) have bought into fantasies about what the technology can actually do.
Today's newsletter: New piece: after the Guthrie kidnapping, the Kirk assassination, and both Minneapolis shootings, the same thing happened every time. People asked AI to "enhance" blurry footage. AI invented faces.

www.readtpa.com/p/computer-e...
Computer, Enhance
People keep running crime footage through AI thinking they’re helping. They’re not.
www.readtpa.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Side note: Now that we've done a few butt-rock gags, I'm learning that @michaelehayden.bsky.social can do album-ready vocals in that genre without even trying
February 12, 2026 at 6:11 PM
On this week's PTI premium episode, we reviewed how TPUSA's "All-American Halftime Show" came into existence and the fractures it illuminated across MAGA media.

Sign up for our Patreon to access this one (and 23 other premium episodes). Support independent media!
www.patreon.com/posts/079-su...
079: A Super Bowl to Call Our Own | Posting Through It
Get more from Posting Through It on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:08 PM
lmao yes. she said it and immediately was like "well shoot, this show is over now, isn't it?"
February 12, 2026 at 5:53 PM
gotta be one of the weirdest ways I have ever seen that word used in my life
February 12, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Jared Holt
Made an annotated version of "Something Big Is Coming" for all of you to enjoy. I hate this guy's writing so much
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qw6k5...
February 12, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Jared Holt
The Atlantic’s profile of Bondi has some wow.

@theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
February 11, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Jared Holt
More than 400 people, including hundreds of citizens, were “sorted” at gun point into racial and ethnic groups by 200 ICE agents who fired flash-bang grenades into cars with people inside, pointed guns at children & demanded their zip tied parents not comfort them. apple.news/Ausdx6kWtT0e...
Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens — NBC News
About 400 people, including children and U.S. citizens, were detained for four hours while they were denied food and water in the raid, according to the lawsuit.
apple.news
February 12, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Reposted by Jared Holt
JUST IN: U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Chicago's Marimar Martinez, "was placed on administrative leave":
February 11, 2026 at 10:27 PM
oh man -- did not know that!
February 11, 2026 at 7:45 PM
You're seeing this in a lot of nonprofits right now too. "Strategic realignment" or "refocusing our priories"... often times that reflects valid realities they can't talk about, like funding cuts or new donor priorities. But dodging follow-up questions about it comes off to most people as sketchy!
February 11, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Pure and meaningless corporate mumbo-jumbo. Read into it what you will, but what stands out to me is that Gallup wouldn't answer a very simple yes-or-no question on whether the Trump Administration complained to them about their findings
February 11, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Also, from what I can tell in our data, Libs of TikTok has been getting more popular on Truth Social since late last year. Not sure what changed, but people on that platform have really been getting into her posts lately. This is the number of her posts shared 500+ times each, totaled per week
February 11, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Also... who's racking up the engagement there? Sure, there are some influencers and media companies doing numbers. But the lion's share of what we saw last week came from GOP officials.

bsky.app/profile/open...
Of the posts that were re-shared 500+ times on Truth Social last week, more than half came from Republican government officials. The second-biggest share came from self-styled MAGA influencers, followed by conservative media outlets and random users whose posts were shared by larger accounts.
February 11, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Sort of wild to see that Libs of TikTok content had more hits on Truth Social than the official White House account did last week.
It's no surprise that President Trump's posts consistently perform well on Truth Social. He owns the platform. But who else sees heavy engagement on the site?

Our researchers found 619 posts that were re-shared 500+ times in the last week. Second behind Trump? Anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok.
February 11, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Jared Holt
My favorite current podcast.
ICYMI - We released another edition of our "Who the Hell?" biographical series on Steven Crowder. It chronicles his start in acting and stand-up comedy, explores his pivot into politics, and traces how his rise into conservative podcasting stardom (and the poor decisions now catching up to him)
Who the Hell is Steven Crowder? The latest installment in our longform biography series features Byron from @thancrowder.bsky.social to explore how a Canadian kid with Hollywood dreams wound up becoming one of the biggest right-wing podcasters to ever do it

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
February 11, 2026 at 4:37 PM
ICYMI - We released another edition of our "Who the Hell?" biographical series on Steven Crowder. It chronicles his start in acting and stand-up comedy, explores his pivot into politics, and traces how his rise into conservative podcasting stardom (and the poor decisions now catching up to him)
Who the Hell is Steven Crowder? The latest installment in our longform biography series features Byron from @thancrowder.bsky.social to explore how a Canadian kid with Hollywood dreams wound up becoming one of the biggest right-wing podcasters to ever do it

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
078: Who the Hell is Steven Crowder? feat. Byron McKoy
Podcast Episode · Posting Through It · 02/09/2026 · 2h 28m
podcasts.apple.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:45 PM
We try to make main feed episodes as useful/informative as we can, and we approach premium episodes like we're hanging out with friends. As great as it is to be supported making the show, it's also just a ton of fun to goof around and share laughs with the crew hanging with us.
This week’s premium PTI episode is all about the TPUSA halftime show, which we’ve been covering since Jack Posobiec first started teasing it and suggesting they’d be able to book Creed.

No better time to sign up for our Patreon. Let’s RAWK

www.patreon.com/posts/150424...
February 11, 2026 at 3:03 PM
News organizations really need to stop regurgitating whatever police claim as the word of God. At the very least, you gotta show some healthy skepticism
AP, ABC and CBS all reported that Wagner was charged with threatening federal agents— which wasn’t reflected in the complaint or even said by DOJ explicitly. AP has now finally changed their headline and added a correction.
February 11, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Come for our musical performances, stay for the 14 minute psychedelic jam I recommend at the end
February 11, 2026 at 5:20 AM